A Simple Promise
by LuigiWife1551
Summary: As children, Mario and Luigi have always know what the other thoughts were. As they grow older, though, Luigi starts to feel distanced from his older brother, but he isn't sure why. Have they forgotten something important? Read and Review! REVISED!
1. Chapter 1

A Simple Promise  
Chapter 1

Ever since Mario and Luigi were kids, their parents noticed something very different about the two and the way they interacted with each other. It seemed like if one was hurt, the other knew it almost immediately. This was thought to be the case because Luigi was born as a very sickly child. Luigi was the younger twin of the two. He was very small when he was born, barely four pounds, and Mario a healthy eight pounds seven ounces. Mario had always been the stronger of the two boys, and was sent home only three days after his birth. His mother stayed another week, and then she went home.

Luigi, unfortunately, hadn't been born as lucky.  
He had a chest infection two days later, and his breathing got to be so bad that he had to put on life support for almost three weeks. The doctors weren't even sure if Luigi would survive his first few weeks alive. Their parents came to see him every day, and brought Mario along as well. It was always sad to see Luigi fighting to stay alive, and for some reason, Mario knew. Mario knew he was scared. He was only a baby; he shouldn't know these things! But he did.

Things began looking up Luigi's way, though. Luigi was finally taken off life support after two months , and he stayed an extra week for observations.

By this time, Mario was about two and a half months old, as was Luigi. Mario was growing very quickly, and was still seeing his younger brother on a daily basis. On one particular visit, about two days before Luigi was able to go home, Mario looked down from his mother's arms, and watched as his brother rested in his bed in the ICU. Luigi looked extremely tiny under the remaining wires and tubes they had him hooked up to. He also looked terribly pale and tired. He was asleep due to all the antibiotics they had pumped into the little guy's system to get rid of his infection.

Yet...he looked...strangely calm to Mario. For some reason, Mario felt… a strange feeling growing inside of him. What it was, he couldn't understand. He didn't know what it was. He just knew it had something to do with him.

Luigi finally went home with a clean bill of health at nearly three months. He had also been diagnosed with an early stage of mild asthma, and was sent home with a pump in case of emergencies. Luigi was still very weak, but still managed to smile and laugh at the funny faces of his family and cry for a bottle and his nap. He and Mario shared a crib, and his parents say that their close bonding grew even stronger there.

Months passed. Luigi had slight attacks, but nothing serious. The two boys were now ten and a half months old, and all over the place. Mario was walking everywhere and getting into everything. He was also starting to talk gibberish and yell for attention. Luigi's legs were still feeling the effects of his weakened state, but otherwise, he also walked around with his brother. Most of the time, he usually sat down and played with toys and put things in his mouth. The two loved sharing their crib. Since Mario hated sitting still for two seconds, most of the time, they were running or playing, or even watching T.V! Family and friends would usually see the two twins playing with their toys, or just lounging about, one drinking a bottle and playing with the mobile, one fast asleep. And since Mario hardly ever went to sleep willingly, sleeping was usually done by Luigi.

Their parents watched the two boys proudly, but carefully, particularly Luigi. They loved his will to fight, even though he was always an ill child. He somehow found a way to pull through. And Mario somehow helped him when he needed it most. Everyone waited and prayed for the day Luigi was completely free of his illness, even though his asthma was permanent. Their parents knew that he would overcome this sickness and grow strong in his own way.

And he did. At age five, Luigi had nearly grown out of his childhood sickness. He still had asthma, but he had grown into a very healthy child otherwise. He jumped around and played sports with his roughhouse brother, but something else began to develop in him. Luigi had a terrible crying issue. Mario often made fun of him, which caused poor Luigi to always start crying. His mom would tell him to leave him alone, but Mario always taunted him behind his mom's back.

As a result, a sort of sibling rivalry began between the two. Luigi couldn't wait until he was older and stronger so that he could beat his older brother at something.

Then one night, and seemingly out of the blue, Luigi came down with a cold. At first, no one panicked. Luigi took some medication and stayed home from school. But the cold got worse. And it grew out of control.

One night, as Mario walked past Luigi's room door to head to the bathroom, he heard a strange sound. Backtracking, he poked his head in Luigi's room. And he winced.

Sitting upright on the bed, Luigi was trying to breathe. He held his asthma pump in a shaky hand, and his cheeks were bright red. Mario ran over to him. "Weegie! What's wrong? Do you want Mom?" Mom was asleep down the hall, and Dad was at work late that night. Mario turned to get Mom, when Luigi stopped him. Luigi looked up at his brother, and gave him a small smile. "N-No. It's okay... Mom's sleeping, and...I just..." Luigi let out a round of painful coughing. Mario sat on the bed next to him. Luigi tried to push him away, but ended up collapsing into him instead. And that was when Mario knew. Luigi was beyond a simple cold. He was really ill.

"M-Mario...I-I'm...so hot..." Luigi moaned. He was in immense pain. His chest felt squeezed, and his head felt like it might explode. His heart was racing inside his chest, and when Mario laid his five year old brother down and took off his pajama top, he rested his hand over his heart, and felt it too.  
"Mario...it hurts...make it stop..." Luigi mumbled. Mario didn't know what to do, so he decided to call his mom. Luckily, their mom had phones placed in every bedroom. Luigi's was right next to Mario's arm. Mari didn't know why, but he felt that running down the hall to get Mom might waste time, and he wanted to stay by Luigi's side. Keeping his cool, he called his mom and explained to her what he could. Then, all of sudden, Luigi screamed, a pained, high-pitched scream. **_"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_**

Now suddenly thrashing around in the bed, Mario fought to hold him still while telling his mom to hurry with his meds. Seeing that they were the same in terms of weight and strength, and with Luigi kicking and screaming like he was, Mario decided to try one more idea.

He somehow managed to hang up the phone, and sat back down again, holding one of Luigi's arms while trying to avoid his legs. Luigi was still thrashing, but Mario reached over with one hand, and very gently, placed his hand on his cheek. He was HOT!

"Weegie, it's okay. I'm here, so don't be afraid , alright? Mom's coming, so hang on" Mario said softly. Luigi started to calm down so that he could hear his brother's voice. "Bro..." " I'm here. Don't worry, Luigi." "M-Mario...oh god...this...this...it won't go away...make it..go...away...please, brother...", Luigi whispered. He wasn't breathing as fast as before, but he was still real hot and sore. He was beginning to become sensitive to light, and his heart rhythm was still wild and a bit painful to Mario. He sighed. He wanted so badly to take his pain away, but he knew he couldn't do anything other than what he did now. Luigi was in **PAIN**; what could a five year old possibly do?

Their mom came into the room five minutes later, and Mario held his brother still as he took his medication. Afterward, she told Mario to go back to bed. But Luigi grabbed Mario's sleeve, scared. He didn't want to be left alone. "Bro, please…stay here."

Mario looked at his mom, his eyes a mix of fear for his brother, and a questionable look. Mom sighed. "Go ahead. Keep watch of him, and call me if he acts up again, okay, Sweetie?" Mario hugged her and gave her a kiss. Mom hugged and kissed him back, then went over and kissed her other son, whispering 'Good Night, Pumpkin' in his ear. Then, she went back to bed.

"Thank you, Bro." Mario took off his pajama top, even though it was a little chilly that night, and slid into bed next to him. He pulled up the sheets, and hugged his brother close. "Is that alright?" Luigi was already three-fourths of the way asleep. His head lolled around as he tried to comprehend what just happened. "Y-Yeah, Bro...", he finally breathed out. His eyes fell closed, and he smiled as he snuggled deeper in Mario's arms. He felt drained of any energy that he had left, and his body hurt. He wasn't able to deal with all of it yet.

Mario felt scared himself as he felt Luigi's hold on his arm loosening. He had never seen his brother like that before, and he didn't want to see it again. He was glad he decided to watch Luigi, because he didn't think he could sleep by himself tonight.

Luigi tried to apologize to Mario. "Mario...I'm sorry. I didn't want..." "Shhh. Right now, you need some sleep." Luigi tried to say something else, but he was completely knocked out by then. Mario hummed a little tune as he also felt sleep coming over him. "Don't worry, Weegie. You'll be okay."


	2. Chapter 2

A Simple Promise  
Chapter 2

After that scare, Mario knew he had to keep an extreme eye on Luigi. His sickness was so much more extreme than usual; it frightened Mario a lot, especially after what had happened nearly two years ago. Luigi hadn't caught a cold as severe as he did at five, but he kept tissue nearby in case of sneezing. Otherwise, Luigi was outside, playing sports, running around with kids his age, making friends and excelling at school, just enjoying life.

Mario was very thankful for such a strong-willed baby brother, and often stopped by in his room at night just to watch him as he slept. He was sometimes struck with painful memories of how close he was to losing his only brother as he saw that battle Luigi fought at such a young age. Luigi came out on top, though, and Mario knew he could breathe a sigh of relief.

Now at seven, Luigi and Mario wanted to play soccer after he saw it on TV with his dad. All Luigi knew was that it required a lot of running and jumping, two things he was good at. Mario saw it, too, and thought that would be a fun game to play, and kick his brother's butt at. The two brothers asked-no_**, begged**_- for a soccer ball for almost three weeks. Finally, their mom went out and bought them one. She told them that she was going to kick _their_ butts if she saw them playing in the house. But since it was almost the last day of school, they decided to wait.

Summer vacation started June 19th, and Mario decided that today was soccer day. He told Luigi that they were going home to change, grab the ball, and head over to the park. Luigi thought about the 'change your clothes part'. "What about the clothes we have on?" Mario shook his head no. He already knew the answer to that one. "First off, these are **brand** **new**. Remember what Dad said?" Luigi nodded, and then chuckled because Mario was really the person Dad was issuing the warning to.

Mario didn't hear it, and Luigi thanked God for that_._ "Should we ask Mom and Dad first?" Mario thought about that. Then, he answered "Yeah. We had better, because she'll call the police if we didn't." Luigi agreed with that statement, and they laughed as they ran the half block to their apartment complex.

Mario and Luigi went in their room to change, and then they asked if they could finally play with their new ball. Their mother turned to acknowledge them, but when she saw the two in their sports gear that they had torn and destroyed last summer, she instantly said, "No, No, **NO**! Those outfits are terrible! Come on, boys. You need some new sports gear."

Mario, growing very impatient, groaned a bit too loudly, and Mom quickly turned around, fire blazing in her eyes. She knew who groaned, and although Mario knew what was coming next, and he knew he couldn't outrun her, he ran. Mom caught him, though, and she pulled both of Mario's ears. Luigi laughed as Mario cried out, "S-Sorry, Mom! OWWWWWW!"

She dragged Mario in the car, and Luigi hopped in and shut the door. As Luigi fastened his seat belt, Mario rubbed his ears, which hurt. Luigi struggled to suppress a giggle as Mario gave him a death glare. "Shut Up." Luigi did as soon as their mom came in and started the engine. Luigi noted how fine she seemed, and suppressed yet another giggle. "Now first, you two need some new sports outfits. Afterward, I have to get Weegie's refill for his inhaler, and then I'll drop you two off. Sounds good?" "Yeah." the two said together.

As they drove to Walmart to buy the items, Mario and Luigi were in the back talking. Mom had a Blue tooth in her ear, and was chatting with her friend while driving over the boulevard. Mario leaned over and whispered, "Hey Weegie, betcha you can't see those three red cars right in front of us." He grinned. He was challenging Luigi to a game of 'I Spy.' Mario loved the game...simply because he beat Luigi every time.

"Where? Where, Mario?" he quickly asked. He couldn't pass up a chance to beat his older brother at 'I Spy". Luigi leaned over to his left so he could see past his mom, and right in front of them were three **huge** cars. They were all in front of them, from what Luigi and Mario could see, anyway. Luigi gasped; he had never seen cars that big in his life! "Whoa..." he said, still amazed. For the moment, it seemed like 'I Spy' was out of the question. They looked like those monster trunks he had seen on a commercial recently. Mario settled back.

"When I'm older, I wanna own one of those! I'll ride down the street, and I can crush the tiny cars out of my way! **VROOM, VROOM!**" Mario said excitedly as he imitated the roaring engines that were in front.

"But what about the people _INSIDE _the cars? Wouldn't you being crushing them, too?" Luigi asked innocently. Mario stopped his imitation and looked at their mom, who was trying to move past the monstrous cars, and thought of their dad, their friends and family. He grinned again.

"_**No.**_ Because I wanna be so rich, I can buy one for all our family and friends!" Luigi could see he meant what he said , so he let it drop for now. Mario, however, thought about the monster truck, and how cool it would be to actually drive one.

Luigi waved his hand in front of Mario's daydreaming face. "Hello? Earth to Mario. You there?" Mario looked at him, his eyes lit up. "Luigi...I really wish we could drive right now." "Me too. I wanna go everywhere and see everything."

Mom, who finished talking on the phone, looked over at her two boys as they talked. "What are you two talking about back here?" Luigi smiled. "Mom, when we grow up, we wanna drive and tr...Tra...well, go a lot of places." he answered. His mom laughed at the fact that Luigi couldn't pronounce 'travel' correctly. Mario did, too. Luigi turned to him.

"Hey! I bet you can't say it right, either!" "Oh yeah?" Mario challenged. Mom knew where this was headed; the boys challenged each other on _everything._ "Boys, cut it out, or you'll both be writing **travel** a couple hundred times!" "Yes, Mom."

Mario rubbed his ears, realizing he didn't want another treatment like before. Luigi started to laugh, and Mario punched his arm. That didn't stop Luigi from laughing harder. Mom pulled into the parking lot for Walmart, which was on its usual activity, and said "We're here, guys!"

As soon as she found a good parking spot, Mario and Luigi hopped out the car and locked the door. Then they proceeded to follow their mom to the department store entrance.

Mario and Luigi had one thing on their minds every time they came here: the toy aisle. Mom couldn't stop them; after all, seven and nine year old boys need something to do inside a mega store.

Knowing what they were going to do, Mom simply said "Make sure your watches are synced."

Mario and Luigi triple-checked then ran off. They knew what Mom came for, so they had about an hour or so to check out the newest toys. And boy, they couldn't wait!

Mario halted in front of one of the newer toys, a Transformers robot. He had asked his dad if he could have a reward when they got their report cards. Of course, they were each getting a toy-and a bike. Mario walked down further, stopping every once in awhile to check out anything new or something he never really noticed before.

"Hey, Weegie. Isn't this-" Mario paused. Wasn't Luigi supposed to be right behind him? He ran out the toy aisle, but he still didn't see him. "Luigi? Where are you?" he called. He started to walk down a bit further past the toy aisle, and then stopped. He remembered that there was an art area a few aisles' ago, just past the toy section. Having no idea as to why he was remembering that, but also having no idea as to where to start looking, Mario wheeled around and ran back up. Not even four aisles' up, he saw Luigi standing in front of the pens section. He held a black bound book in his hand.

"Luigi! Mom said we're supposed to stay together!" Luigi looked at his brother. "I know. But I wanted to ask Mom if she'll buy this for me. I'm trying to find a good pen set to go with it." Luigi walked a bit further, to the fine and extra fine point sets, frowning as he kept searching. Mario sighed. As much as he wanted to stare at the toys until the store closed, he didn't want to leave Luigi by himself, even though Luigi was a bit too busy worrying about finding pens.

"I'll help, if you want." "It's okay. I thought you wanted to go look at the newest toys." Mario shrugged, and picked up a pen set, nonchalantly reading the back of the package. "Don't worry. The toy I want isn't here yet. So I'll help you out for now." Mario was telling the truth, though. Luigi smiled a little. "Thanks, Mario." Mario smiled back, putting the package of pens away. "What kind of pens are we looking for?"

"I forgot the name, but the pack I want is extra fine and has ,like, nine different colors. It was really nice. Dad already said I could get a color pencil set after report cards come out."

The whole time, Mario was looking for the pens, until he came across a Sharpie pen set that had over ten colors. "Hey Weege, how about these? It has …twelve pens in it." Mario handed it to Luigi. Luigi's eyes lit up when he saw them.

"And they're cheap! Thanks, Bro!" Luigi smiled, and Mario was glad. He actually had to thank the fact that the toy he wanted never arrived. Just then, a beeping sound was heard.

"Come on. Mom should be at the checkout place by now." "Okay."As they hurried down, Mario asked, "Hey Weege, since when did you like to draw?"

Luigi's face tinted red with embarrassment. "Since last year. I'll show you some drawings when we get home." Mario found it strange that he had never seen any of his brother's drawings. He decided to ask his dad later.

They met their mom, who was in line. "I found the cutest outfits for you two. You're going to love it! And I got your refill, Luigi." Luigi showed her the sketchbook and pens and asked, "Mom, will you get this for me? Please?

Mom sighed, knowing that Luigi's adorable face wouldn't allow her to say no, and said, "Sure, honey. What about you, Mario?" Mario shook his head. "Nah. Luigi's sharing." Luigi decided that since Mario helped him look for the pens, he should be allowed to use them. "Yeah, he's right. We'll share!"

A few minutes later, once they were in the car, Luigi asked, "Bro, do you still want to play soccer?" Mario leaned back. He wanted to go home and take a nap. "Mom, can we go home? I'm beat." Mom nodded, and Luigi smiled. Mario always loved his afternoon-evening naps, and it was summer!

"Luigi, let's ask Dad if he'll play soccer with us tomorrow, okay?" "Okay, Mario." Mom pulled out of the parking lot, and soon the trio was headed home.

As Mom drove, with Mario snoring away next to him, Luigi looked out the window, his new items clutched tightly in his arms. He loved summer, and all the wonderful memories that he was going to have as he wrote and drew in their new sketchbook. Smiling to himself, he thought, _**'I'm really going to enjoy this summer. I know it."**_

He listened to Mom asking Dad what he wanted to do for dinner, and then he dozed off.


	3. Chapter 3

A Simple Promise

Chapter 3

Two more years passed. Birthdays, holidays, everything seemed to be in good standing order. Nine-year old Mario and Luigi enjoyed summer, enjoyed school, enjoyed life. And with forth grade right around the corner, they had plenty to enjoy. During the summer, their father allowed them to play all sorts of sports, with soccer being the main one they played. And when school came around, the boys did what typical nine year olds did- beg their parents to let them stay home for a few more days. Or at least, Mario did.

Oddly, this school year would also be the most life-changing day of their lives.

It all started one morning, after Luigi woke up a bit earlier than usual. He yawned, then got out of bed and went to his older brother's room, knowing full well that he wouldn't be up yet.

Still fast asleep, his little frame bundled in his multitude of his bright red blankets, Luigi stifled a giggle as Mario turned on his back, dreaming of none other than...

"Feed me...pasta...mmmm..."

Luigi walked out of the room and headed for the bathroom. He still had an hour or so before they were to even wake up, so he may as well go watch some TV.

He went to the bathroom, then to his parents room. For some reason, the door was closed, and Luigi wondered if his parents were okay. It was quiet, so for the time being, he opted against waking them up.

He noticed that his mom and dad were yelling at each other a lot more often than usual, but he didn't think anything of it. As far as he knew, they fought just like Mario and himself did whenever they didn't agree on something, like who had the remote first, or why they had to clean their rooms out that Saturday.

Luigi went back to his room. TV didn't seem like such a good idea anymore. He went to his bookshelf and got down his sketchbook and pens. He turned on his lamp, sat at his desk, and began to draw.

The hour passed before he knew it. He finished a sketch he started a few days ago, and started on a new one before checking the time. He remembered that he had to wake Mario up before he overslept again. They had a test today, and well...Mario liked to sleep. A lot.

_'Time to wake him up.'_

Luigi packed up his pens, put away his sketchbook and went to his still slumbering brother's room.

"Mario. Mario, wake up, it's time for school." Luigi said, gently nudging him.

Mario waved Luigi away, turning on his side, away from Luigi. "Come on...five more minutes..."

Luigi rolled his eyes. Why did he have such a lazy twin brother?

"Mario, you better wake up or else Mom will do it."

Almost instantly, Mario sat up, yawing loudly and rubbing his eyes before glaring at his laughing younger brother.

"You just had to say that?"

Luigi shrugged casually. "Well, it's either that or Mom. Take your pick."

Mario said nothing, climbing out of bed and heading for the bathroom to wash up. After that, they went to make themselves some breakfast, discussing plans for after school, as well as who studied for their math test. Mario wasn't looking forward to his test at all, and Luigi could see that.

"Mario, it's not that bad. It's multiple-choice. You'll be done in no time."

"Yeah, easy for you to say. I hate math!" he said, sitting back in his chair with a pout on his face and his arms crossed. Luigi laughed.

"Whatever. So, are you going to play soccer after school, or what?"

Mario shrugged. "I don't know. I was thinking about that, though."

They kept talking about plans they had, then eventually decided that they would ask if they could go to the park after they finished their homework. As they cleaned up after themselves, Dad came in the kitchen, making a beeline for the coffee maker.

"Morning, Dad."

"Hey, Daddy."

Dad nodded, smiling at them as he put down his mug and took the two young boys in his arms.

"Morning. What are you doing up so soon?" he asked playfully.

Mario eyed Luigi. "Well, _this_ one thought it was time to get ready for school!"

"No. We have a test today, and I know Mario didn't study."

"What?" Mario looked at Luigi with shock. "I did so! I hate math!"

Dad laughed, putting the two boys down and taking up his cup of coffee again. "Well son, I hope you did because forth grade is not easy."

Mario looked at his father with horror. "Really?"

Luigi laughed again. "Oh, stop, Bro. Come on."

Mario and Luigi headed for their rooms, continuing their conversation. On their way, they bumped into Mom coming into the kitchen.

"Morning, Mom."

She smiled at them, bending down to give them each a hug and a kiss. "Morning, boys. What's all the noise about?"

Mario looked at his mom with the most pitiful look ever, causing her to laugh. "Now, what's wrong with my Mario?"

"Mom, I don't feel well. Can I stay home?" he said, feigning a cough and trying his best to look sick. Mom stole a glance at Luigi, who simply shrugged his shoulders and went about his way.

Five minutes later, Mario walked into Luigi's room as he was pulling on his shirt. "Mom said no, didn't she?"

Mario sighed dramitically, answering Luigi's question. "Hey Weegie?"

Luigi turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"Can I borrow your sweatsuit? The one you never wear?"

Luigi frowned, digging in his closet to find the suit Mario was talking about. After some time, he pulled out a green and black sweatsuit set still hanging on the hanger and still adored with his tags.

"This one?" "Yeah. Mom said we can play soccer after we finish our homework, and you know we don't get homework on the days we have tests."

Luigi broke out into a grin. "Okay, Bro. But only if I can use your cleats. Mine are worn out, and I can't get new ones yet."

Mario broke out into a wider grin, taking the suit from his brother. "Deal. You ready for school?"

Luigi nodded. "We just got to get our lunch money."

A few minutes later, the two boys exited the room and headed for the kitchen, where they assumed their parents were, to get their lunch money and to tell the good-bye.

But when they got there, they found the kitchen was empty. "Huh. Hey Bro, where's Mom and Dad?"

Just as Mario opened his mouth to answer, they two heard yelling coming from their parent's room.

"No, I've had it! You don't ever help the boys, and you barely talk to me!"

"Well, how can I? You nag and hound me day in and day out!"

"So what, I can't be worried for my own husband?"

Mario's eyes grew large, and he looked at Luigi, who was hearing the screaming, but wasn't sure what was going on.

"Luigi. Luigi, come on. We have to go." Mario said, pulling Luigi by his arm toward the front door.

"But, what about-"

"Come on!" Mario shouted, pulling Luigi angrily to the door.

"Ow! Owowowow...what was that for, Mario?" Luigi exclaimed as he rubbed his wrists in pain. He looked at his brother, who was fuming as they walked to school.

"Mario? You okay?" Luigi asked, worried about Mario's anger.

"Luigi, drop it. Just drop it, okay?" he snapped.

"..okay." he said quietly. And for the rest of the walk to school, neither spoke.

Luigi had never heard his mom sound so upset before. Lately, his mom and dad have been yelling at each other more and more. Of course, Luigi never said anything about it-he knew better than to jump into their grown affirs.

But it worried him. Maybe it was the amount of TV he was watching, but he had something of an idea as to what happens to kids whose parents broke up. And he was only nine, but he wasn't stupid. Something was happening to his family, and it was making him a little nervous. But what could he do? He wasn't even sure as to why they were so mad at each other.

School seemed to lag on longer than usual. Both boys took their test, but neither really focused on it. Mario was still a bit angry at what happened earlier, but he felt guilt for snapping at his twin. Luigi felt the same way.

It was during lunch that Mario told him why he was mad and snapped like he did. He was partially hoping that Luigi would forgive him, and partially wanting to get it off his chest. "Hey, Weegie?"

"Hmm?" Luigi answered, mouth half-full of food.

"About earlier...sorry I snapped on you. I was..."

"Upset?" his little brother said with a smile. Mario nodded sheepishly.

"But Mom and Dad? Why are they fighting so much?" Luigi wondered. He put his sandwich down, and Mario could see he was growing worried.

"I don't like it when they fight. It...it scares me. They don't love each other no more, Mario?" Worried blue eyes met his firm ones. Mario, sure in what he was saying, dismissed his comment with a wave of his hand.

"They still do. We have to wait. It's probably something they will make up, like us. We fight, but we don't hate each other, right?"

Luigi smiled again. "Right!"

The bell rung, signaling the end of lunch, and Mario got up, throwing away his tray and clapping Luigi on his back. "Come on. Let's head to class, Bro. Before we get in trouble!" Mario shrugged. "Yeah. Let's go."

The rest of the day went without anymore thoughts on their parents. At the end of the school day, they went home.

The first thing both noticed was that the spare key their parents kept in case of emergency was in the mailbox, not under the mat like ususal. Mario picked up the key and unlocked the door, wondering if maybe one of them forgot to put the key in its proper place. If that was the case, their mother was going to be pissed.

Upon entering, Mario heard something like muffled shouts coming from the kitchen. He left Luigi to put away his gear, trying not to get nosy and see who was yelling. He knew it had to be his parents, and if it was, he wanted nothing to do with it.

He wished he had told Luigi the same thing.

Luigi, hearing the same thing, tiptoed toward the kitchen, and overheard things no nine-year old should have heard from his parents.

"Why the fuck did you think it was okay to go snooping around in my shit? Yes, I've had an affiar! Is that what you wanted to hear!" his father yelled.

Luigi, being the sensitive little boy he was, barely manages restraining himself as his mother replied back.

"What about the boys, huh, you sorry piece of crap? What are you going to tell them? You cheated on me with a whore! A whore!"

Luigi stumbled back as his mother and father went at it, then turned and bolted for his room. Collasping on his bed, he buried his face in his pillow, keeping his screams muffled as much as possible.

He had never heard either of them using such powerful language. Never. And it made him sick.

Mario, who had made a pit stop to the bathroom, was just coming out, laughing at a joke he told himself, when he caught Luigi in his room. Judging from the curled-up ball on the bed, he knew something was wrong.

"Weege? Luigi?"

Luigi was still laying on his bed, his tears soaking his pillow. Mario walked fully and closed the door. Then he went and sat next to his nine year old twin laying a small hand on his trembling a shoulder.

"Weegie? What's wrong, Weege?" Mario asked, keeping his voice low.

Luigi sat up, his eyes red and puffy from crying. "Mario, Mom...Mom and Dad were fighting, and they...t-they..." He choked up again, and was unable to finish.

Mario hissed under his breath. He knew it. Damn, why hadn't he told him to keep away? "Fighting? As in hitting?" he asked.

Luigi shook his head. "T-T-They were y-yelling...at each other. Cussing a lot, too."

Before Mario could ask anything else, he heard stomping past their room. He held his breath and waited. When he heard nothing, he walked to his brother's door and pressed an ear it, trying to hear anything.

For a while, it was quiet. Then, more screaming. He couldn't understand what they were saying, but something told him that it wasn't a friendly chat.

Mario stepped out of the room for a moment, and saw his father flying by him, two bags in hand. His mother was standing at the entrance way of their room, angry tears streaming down her face. She was yelling at his father to leave and never come back.

Now seeing what he meant, Mario quietly went back in Luigi's room, closing the door behind him before seating next to him and pulling him to his small frame.

"Mario? Wh-What's going on?"

Mario said nothing, not even hearing the question. He hugged his little brother tighter, and Luigi let out a shaking gasp before looking up at his twin brother.

"Bro?" he asked super softly.

"Dad's leaving. He's not...not coming home." Mario said, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. But he was unable to.

"No...no. Why? Don't they love each other anymore?"

Mario wasn't sure. Earlier in the day, he had felt so certain things simply it a snag. That it would blow over and they would be back to normal, laughing at Dad's jokes and eating Mom's delicious home cooking..

Now...he didn't know.

Luigi looked up at him. "Bro?"

Mario looked at him. "Don't be afraid, okay? I'll never leave you, and you know that."

Luigi smiled a little. "I know, Bro. You're my bro!" he happily said.

Mario chuckled before hoking his pink with his brother's. Mario nodded, hooking it back.

"Promise."

Both brothers, now feeling a bit better, thought about their mother.

"Hey Weegie. Let's go see Mom."

Luigi nodded. He'd been thinking about her, too. "Yeah."

The boys walked to their mother's room, where they saw the beautiful woman looking lost and disgrutled. Her usually curly, light-brown hair now looked like a lion's mane. Her eyes were lifeless and flat, nothing like thei one brown orbs that sparkled with life.

Luigi took Mario's hand in his, scared of making that first step. It didn't matter; Mario couldn't do it, either.

"Mommy?" Luigi's soft voice called. His mother turned slightly, her mouth barely moving. "Hey, baby."

Luigi walked over to her, reaching up to her baby-like. She smiled, picked him up and hugged him tight. Luigi rested his head on her shoulder. Mario walked over, sat down next to her, and held her hand.

"Mom? What's going on? Where's Dad?" Mario asked.

Mom sighed. "He's gone. He's leaving."

Mario's nine-year old brain quickly caught on to the statement. "He doesn't love us, Mom?"

She nodded. "Of course. He loves you two will all his heart. But me and him...oh, baby, it's too complicated to explain right now."

Mario looked at her, confused. She knew he was, but she couldn't tell him these things. Not yet.

"I'm sorry. I know this isn't easy, but..."

"Mommy."

Both looked at the youngest, who was dozing off, a sleepy smile on his face. "It's okay. It'll be okay."

Mario looked at Luigi with this proud expression, and nodded, looking at his mother, who didn't understand why her son was saying that.

"Baby? Are you okay?"

Luigi nodded, holding his mother closer, snuggling into her. She sat further back, leaning against the pillows. Soon, her gentle voice hummed a lullaby that lulled Luigi to sleep.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

Mario looked at him mom. She knew what he wanted.

Holding out her right arm, she allowed access for Mario to snuggle up to her. He loved his mom. She was always there, always trying to keep the boys safe from harm.

"Mommy?" Mario mumbled, close to falling asleep as well.

"Yes, baby?"

Mario smiled. "We're going to protect you...Mommy."

Mom watched her older twin son close his eyes, peace entering his features.

'Yep. These two are a chip of the old block.'

She looked at a photo frame that was sitting on the dresser. It was her marriage picture. The boys weren't born yet, but she looked gorgoeus in her white, her husband in his tux.

Maybe he didn't love her, and she sure as hell didn't want him back. But he gave her the greatest gift in the world- two adorable, strong sons.

"We'll be okay, guys." she whispered to her sleeping sons.

"I know we will."


	4. Chapter 4

A Simple Promise  
Chapter 4

Mario and Luigi watched as pieces of their lives began to fall back into place. They watched their mother slowly coming back around, becoming the bubbly, energetic woman they have always known.

But she wasn't the only thing that they watched change.

The boys celebrated their thirteenth birthday. Needless to say, it was quite the party. Mario and Luigi were changing, and they could see it clearly.

Mario noticed his younger twin changing in ways that seemed...odd. Luigi was a very handsome teenager, with few pimples and an adorable, awkward smile. He was very intelligent, and was a very kind person.

Luigi was all those and more, and Mario didn't find a problem with that. What worried him...was the fact that Luigi-and he hated to admit it-was severely anti-social.

Well, he wasn't that bad. But Luigi was so quiet. He didn't have too many friends.

He barely, if at all, spoke, and as a result, Luigi made very few friends. Mario didn't know why.

Luigi wasn't an awkward person to be around. He was...just soft-spoken.

Mario, on the other hand, was a social butterfly. He loved to be around people, especially around the girls. Mario had no problem talking to someone and being the center of attention.

They were two of a kind, but that was exactly the way Luigi liked it. He didn't like being at attention. He liked watching and laughing, just as long as he was enjoying himself.

Their mother was even better. She had started dating again, almost four years later. The man was about two years younger than the boys father, but he was a real kind man, both to Mom and to Mario and Luigi. He was a working man, and when he proposed to her a year and a half later, the boys were happy. Mom was elated.

They needed some kind of father figure. Not like they didn't see their father. They saw him very often. But the fact was that he wasn't always there. They never hated him; they figured he'd move on, too. But they just wanted someone there.

Regardless, the day of the wedding, the guys were pleased. Everything was finally going back to normal...or at least, as normal as one could get.

Luigi would be the first to learn of a secret. And it wold be a secret that almost tears him and his brother apart.

It started one Saturday morning. A few hours earlier, Mom got a phone call from her now ex- husband asking her to send the remaining of his things over to his new apartment.

Luckily, the divorce proceedings hadn't been bitter. They still maintained some kind of professional relationship.

In any case, he had asked Mom to grab some personal items that he didn't want the boys to find. She understood, and had spent the better part of her Saturday removing the last remnants of her ex for good.

Mario and Luigi were also up. Mario was complain about being bored and eating breakfast. He had been doing so for almost twenty minutes before Mom asked if he wanted to ride with her to the store to get some more storage bins.

Luigi had been in his room watching some TV and working on the last bit of his homework when Mom shouted, "Weege? We're heading out to the store, okay?"

Luigi shook his head and smiled, stuck his head out his room door, and shouted, "Okay, Mom!"

After he heard the door shut, Luigi went back to his homework. After another half hour, Luigi went and got himself something to eat, then relaxed for awhile. But while he flipped through the channels, something caught his attention.

He noticed the martial picture frame resting on the mantelpiece. Luigi walked over to it and looked at it. There was no photo inside of it, but he was just analyzing the frame itself.

He still remembered when his mother had showed that frame off. They weren't even born when their parents got married, but...hearing them talking and relieving those memories made it seem like they were right there. It was Luigi's version of his favorite bedtime story.

That got Luigi thinking.

_'I wonder...why did Dad leave us in the first place?'_

Luigi kept running that question over and over in his head for awhile before he decided to do some detective work.

_'I'm thirteen...and so is Mario...but she never told us why. Why did he go away?'_

Luigi checked to make sure his mother left before running upstairs to his parent's room. He looked around.

There were black trash bags scattered all over the place. Men's clothes were laid out on the bed, and some other personal items were lying about.

"Wow. Dad left all this here still?" Luigi exclaimed as he picked up some of the ties. He looked at them before putting them back the way his mother had it. And that's when something caught his eye.

He noticed something like a jewelry box laying partially under one of his father's suits. He pulled it out and sat on the floor, looking at it.

"Is this Mom's? It looks really expensive..." he asked himself, examining it. It looked rather ordinary.

The box looked more like a fireproof safe instead of a keepsake chest. It was entirely black and made of steel. Luigi shook it, and heard a lot of rustling going on.

"What could be in here?" he mused. He tried to open it, but ran into a roadblock.

The box was locked with a combination lock. Luigi sighed, then chuckling as he started at that lock.

'Leave that to Dad. I wonder if Mom knows this was here. I wonder what he has in here..."

Luigi looked around. "Where would Dad keep the combination?" he asked himself. He scratched his head in confusion as he stood up to try and look for some type of clue to determine the combo.

As he dug around in his mother's dresser, he discovered a small composition notebook. Opening it, he flipped a couple pages until one page seemed to be the lucky one.

"Okay...10...22...95..." he grumbled as he quickly wrote down the number. He put everything back the way he found it, and was about to open the box when he heard his brother's loud voice coming through the front door.

_'Shoot! If Mom sees me with this...if she sees me in here...she is going to kill me!_' he frantically thought as he tucked the box under his shirt and ran back to his room as fast and quietly as possible.

If there was one thing Luigi was glad for, it was the fact that he and Mario no longer shared rooms, despite being twins. He shut his door just as his mother came upstairs.

'_I gotta hide this somewhere...where no one can find it.'_ he mused.

Acting on the first place he could think of, he stuck the still locked box and the combination in his underwear drawer and covered it with all his boxers. Just as he turned around, Mario came in.

"Why? Mom's so cruel, bro!" he screamed dramatically as he walked in.

Luigi jumped., somewhat caught off guard.

"Wh- Mario, haven't you ever heard of knocking?" he exclaimed, trying to look like he'd been doing something else. In his mind, he could only hope that Mario never caught on to what he was actually doing.

Mario seemed more pissed off at the fact that he had to walk around the store for forty-five minutes looking for trash bags. He sat in one of Luigi's chairs, going on about his 'suffering', all the while not noticing his younger looking like a truck had just missed him.

Luigi sighed, and Mario stopped talking. And that was when Mario finally noticed how strange Luigi looked.

"Hey bro. You alright? You look real pale."

Luigi shook his head. "Y-yeah. I just...I was studying too long, that's all."

Now usually, Mario could tell whether Luigi was lying or not. It was that 'twin thing', as Mario put it. And Luigi was never a good liar to begin with.

Not this time. Oddly enough, he didn't notice it. Instead, he grinned, and said he would get them something to eat.

"O-Okay..."

Once Mario was gone, Luigi let out a heavy sigh of relief. He managed to get away with his lie-for now. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what would've happened otherwise.

It wasn't like he couldn't trust him. But he knew Mario had a big mouth, and if he knew that was Dad's, he would've have gone and asked his mother, who would probably have killed him for snooping around in her room.

_'I think...I think I'd better keep this to myself. At least, until I know what Dad has in there.'_ he thought, looking at the closed underwear drawer.

"LUIGI! Come on, we're going out! Mom said we can buy some pizza!" his older twin screamed in happiness. Luigi shook his head and laughed.

"Coming!" he responded, running downstairs to meet up with him.

_'Yeah...I'll just wait. Maybe later on tonight, after everyone's sleeping...I'll open it. Until then...'_

Luigi ran outside to catch up to his brother.

_'I'd better keep this to myself.'_


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the epic delay! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!  
Disclaimers don't exist!  
...but I don't own any of the Mario brothers...just their parents and the plotline... :(

* * *

A Simple Promise  
Chapter 5

For the next few weeks, Luigi tried to build up some kind of courage to tell his twin brother what he had found. He wanted to do that because if his brother or his mother discovered it, his life as he knew it would be over.

The only problem was that he couldn't do it! And it both annoyed him and frightened him to the point of no return.

Mario and their mother also noticed a change in the youngest of the family. Luigi was acting quieter than ever before, barely saying anything at times, and when he did, he would mutter it so low and so soft that no one could understand him.

At school, it got to the point where Luigi was often alone during lunch, while Mario was off with his friends talking about the latest music and things like that. Mario was acting like the typical teenager, despite the fact that he was only in eigth grade.

But Luigi was acting more like a worried old geezer. He was growing more and more worried about what was hiding inside their father's little black box. He wondered if he could truly handle the reasons why his father and mother no longer loved each other any more. And he wondered how Mario would handle it in particular.

As far as Luigi knew, Mario still held high respect for him. He still loved him.

And that was the reason why he needed to make sure that whatever was hidden in this box was something that they could handle with grace and eventually forget about it. He didn't want anything more to change in their family's lives, especially since it took four years to finally get things back to some sense of normality.

Luigi finally made up his mind one brisk afternoon, once school had finished for the day.

"And then, I swear I kicked that stupid ball to the far left, but Joey had to...hey, Weege?"

Luigi snapped out of it. "I-I'm sorry. Joey ate your what?"

Mario blinked, confused. "Joey...kicked my soccer ball..." he said slowly.

Luigi looked lost, but nodded anyway. He hadn't really been listening to hardly any of the story Mario was telling. For a thirteen year old, he was worrying about too many things!

Mario noticed it, too. And even Mario knew when he was being ignored.

"Weege, what's goin' on with you today? You've been acting real weird lately...weirder than usual, anyway." Mario asked, stopping him.

Luigi looked away. "Nothing, Mario. I'm okay." he answered quietly.

Mentally, Luigi had to kick himself. Sooner or later he was going to find out...

"No...there's something wrong. What's up? You know you can tell me anything, bro." Mario pressed, his voice low and aware.

Luigi, for once, hated when Mario did that. He knew that it always worked. But this time, he had to fight the urge to spill everything, especially since he himself didn't know if he was overreacting or what.

"I don't..."

Mario led them to the park a block down from their house, where they unloaded their backpacks of the ground and sat on the park bench to rest for a bit.

Luigi had to ask, why of all the times that he could've done this, did Mario pick_ today_ to be all concerned big brotherly?

"Luigi, something's been eating at you for weeks on end. I'm not a genius, but I'm not a complete fool, either."

Luigi sighed. How he wished he was right now...but had he noticed how quiet he was at school?

"I know...I know, Mario." Luigi mumbled.

Mario placed a caring arm around Luigi's shoulders. Luigi was surprised, but Mario grinned.

Despite being the most popular kid at school, he never really cared who saw him doing things like this. He was always acting like this even in school because he was always babying his brother. No one understood the kind of bond that they shared, and Mario preferred to keep it that way.

That little incident eight years ago was still fresh in Mario's mind, and he felt like he had let his baby brother down. But it wasn't about to happen again. He didn't want to let Luigi suffer anything they could handle as a team.

"What's going on, Weegie? Tell me." Mario asked again, keeping his voice low and even.

Luigi simply shook his head. "I...I might be overreacting, bro...it's nothing, really..."

Mario wasn't buying that. "Luigi, even the teachers noted how quiet you've gotten. It's really scaring them, but I'm getting flat-out frightened by it. Me and Mom were about to send you to a shrink." he stated.

Luigi looked up into his twin's blue hues, and realized that his older twin wasn't kidding. His mouth nearly hit the floor.

"S-Seriously? A psychiatrist?"

Mario nodded. "Yeah, to that...thing. And I told her not to do that because I felt like if it was that bad that you couldn't tell the adults we trusted, it had to be personal. And...well, you usually tell me that kind of thing."

Mario chuckled when a small smile graced his brother's face. "See, I'm right."

Luigi looked at the grass that swayed with the slight breeze. "Yeah...you're right..." he began again.

Mario waited, knowing there was something else that he wanted to say. "But?"

"But this...I think I might be jumping it just a bit too much, Bro. And I...I don't want you to worry about something so...so...insignificant..."

Mario dismissed that statement. "Bro, that is a load of crap and you know it." he said.

"Huh?" he said, caught off guard my that statement.

Mario leaned back against the park bench, looking up at the white, fluffy clouds that rolled past. "That, what you just said...I know my English sucks, but what you just said is a load of nonsense. Something that's making you this upset..."

He frowned. "Something that's making you this upset...that's reason enough for me to be worried."

Luigi looked ashamed. He knew that this would happen. "I'm sorry..."

Mario closed his eyes for a moment. "Luigi, tell me something. Why on earth do you apologize for no real reason?"

At that, Luigi was caught even more of guard. "Well, I...I worried you and Mom, and I-"

"Basically...nothing, right?"

"Ummm...I..." Luigi had no idea what to say to that.

Mario opened his eyes and stood up. "Listen, Bro. You're my family, and you're the only brother I have. So I have to be worried about you over the littlest of things, regardless of how insigni...well, how not important it is."

Luigi stood as well, silently laughing at the crude mispronunciation of the word. "So don't feel like you can't come and talk to me, kay? Nothing that you tell me will change or make me break that promise. I'll always be here, even if you just want me to listen."

Luigi knew that. He still remembered what happened eight years ago, and how scared he had made his brother.

Mario remembered it, too. It was a constant reminder that he knew wouldn't go away. But it gave him resolve.

He didn't want to go through something like that again. Especially if it meant that his little brother wouldn't go through that pain he had went through that night...

And Luigi wasn't ready to put anyone else through that, either.

"Ready to go home, bro?"

Luigi nodded, and the duo started for home. The whole time, Luigi wondered if it was honestly alright to burst Mario's bubble and show him what had him so worried.

_'I just hope this won't change things...' _he thought to himself as Mario resumed his soccer story. It was just a block to go home, but at the pace they decided to walk, it seemed much longer.

It was just the way Luigi liked it. He liked taking forever to get home just to hear his brother's crazy adventures in school that day.

_'One thing's for sure. Once we start high school, he's gonna have a lot more stories to tell.'_

Luigi smiled to himself. _'I wonder if I will, too...'_

He made up his mind at that point. As soon as the got inside the house, he would show him. Maybe things won't be too bad after all...

Later on that evening, after the boys finished their homework and their mother was in her room watching the news, Luigi was still in his room, laying on his bed. His mind was still replaying the conversation he had with his brother earlier.

_'It's almost seven...I wonder if I should just go and show him..._'

Luigi sighed in annoyance. "Oh, why must things be so darn difficult?" he said to himself. He turned in his bed, and decided to catch some sleep. It was an hour before they had to go to bed, but he was getting so tired all of the sudden. Or maybe he really is just over thinking things again...

Besides, maybe Mario won't ask about it now. He might be watching his evening cartoons or something...

"Weege! Hey, I'm coming in!"

And then again...maybe not.

Luigi got out of his warm bed and opened the door. His twin was in some red sweatpants and an oversized white tee-shirt, his favorite bedtime gear. Luigi hadn't even changed out his clothes.

"What, you going to school now? It's not tomorrow, bro!" Mario joked as he entered the room.

Luigi laughed weakly. "I know, but I don't feel like changing...yet."

Mario shrugged. "Hey, to every teen their own. So what did you have to tell me?"

Darn! He still remembered!

"Well, Bro? I'm here, so you may as well tell me what the big secret is!" Mario reminded him, sitting down at Luigi's desk. He twirled in the rotating chair a few times before he faced his brother.

"I'm waiting."

Luigi began to twist his sleeve nervously. "Well...well, you see, I-I...I t-thought...I-I mean, I...it's...you-"

Mario's eyebrows arched. As he figured...whatever Luigi was trying his best not to tell was something very huge.

"Weege, take a deep breath for me."

Luigi did as he was told, hoping that was the problem, but also hoping that their mother would call them for something...anything to get out of here...

"Now, let's try that again."

Mario leaned back in the chair again, and Luigi slumped down on the bed. He knew it was now or never, and decided not to act like a fool no longer.

"Mario, um...a few weeks ago...do you remember when you and Mom went to get those trash bags or bins or whatever it was?" Luigi asked.

Mario nodded, shuddering at the very mention of that day. "God, yes...ooh, that was _horrible, _I tell you!"

Luigi softly chuckled. Mario nodded.

"But I still don't get what that has to do with anything."

Luigi sighed. "Well, I...I was thinking about Dad. I wanted to know why he left us like he did, why he left Mom like he did. I thought...I thought that maybe he never loved us or something..."

At that, Mario got slightly offended, as he loved his father more than anything. "NO! Dad loved us, Luigi! He and Mom just didn't want to be together anymore!"

Luigi jumped at the sudden change in his older twin's voice. "I-I know, but...you know what, forget it."

Mario could see Luigi was about to close in on himself again, and he got up to sit next to his brother.

"Sorry, Weege...I'm sorry. I just...I don't like to think that Dad might of hated us...and I don't want you to think that, either." Mario apologized softly.

Luigi looked at his brother. "I don't think Dad hated us, Bro. I'd never think that. I just...I had wanted to know. Remember when Mom said that she'd tell us why her and Dad broke up when we got older?"

Mario suddenly nodded in remembrance. "Yeah, you're right. But...I wonder why she hasn't said anything yet..."

Luigi got up and went over to his drawer. Opening the top drawer, he took out the combination, the notebook and the little black box he had hidden.

Bringing the items over to Mario, he set the on the bed, then quickly rushed over to lock his door. Mario didn't ask why, but was looking at the black box with interest.

"Weege...Weege, where did you get this?" the amazed 13-year old asked.

Luigi smiled sheepishly. "I uh...I dug it out of...out of Mom's room. I don't think she knew Dad ever had it."

Mario looked back up at Luigi. "This was what got you so troubled?"

Luigi nodded slowly, coming back over to sit down. "I was thinking about opening it for days afterward, but...I was afraid of what I would find and I guess...I wanted to open it with you, Bro." he explained shyly.

Mario grinned, reaching over to playfully punch his brother in the arm. "Weegie, you are so nosy!" he laughed.

Luigi blushed. "S-So...should we open it?"

Mario nodded. "Yeah. I wanna know why Dad would keep such a thing."

Luigi gave Mario the paper with the combination on it, and Mario quickly cracked it. The lock clicked, and the lid creaked open. Both brothers looked at one another.

"Ready, Weege?"

Luigi nodded. "Y-Yeah, Bro."

Mario took the box and flipped it upside down, spilling out all the contents. Mario sifted through some of the items before he froze all of the sudden.

Luigi looked at his brother's stiff frame, then went through some of the items as well. Once he saw what had his brothers so worried and silent, he too, froze up for a moment.

"M...Mario..."

The boys looked at the objects in both wonder and confusion.

"Was...Was this really our...father?" Luigi stammered. Mario didn't say a word.

Neither could believe what they had discovered. And they didn't want to believe that their father could actually do this to them.

But it seemed like their mother knew what she was talking about that night.


	6. Chapter 6

A Simple Promise  
Chapter 6

Luigi's fingers trembled slightly as he reached for another piece of paper that had fallen out of the box. The room was still eerily silent, and it was starting to feel almost suffocating to the two young boys.

So far, the boys found a heap of photos, and papers with random money amounts written all over them. Most of the work seemed to be calculations, though that wasn't the reason why they were in such disbelief.

Among said items, they found revealing, flashy and some very inappropriate pictures and magazines. But none of the women in the photos looked anything like their mother.

There were all types of women, and some of them weren't exactly the prettiest to look at.

"Mario...Mario, t-this...this can't be his, right? Right, Bro?" he asked, hoping against hope that he was dreaming, that his brother would verify that.

But Mario still hadn't said anything. He was looking at another object, something that was questioning everything he'd ever believe about their father.

Besides the random and massive amount of porn the two teens had found, they had also seen little slpis of white paper. Mario picked on up and looked at it.

It had the name of some female other than their mother, and her number. The same ran true for all the pieces of paper that was there. And while he was surprised at the fact that his father still had those, and even a little curious as to who those numbers belonged to, it wasn't that Mario cared about.

Another object that had fallen out had landed on the ground. For some reason, this one caught Mario's attention even more, particularly because of what was written on the front.

Quietly, Mario bent to pick it up, and looked more closely at the cover.

It was an envelope that had been addressed to the boys and their mother. Judging from a dried, brown-colored stain that had more or less engulfed the bottom corner of the enveolope, Mario assumed that the letter had been written some time ago.

At first, he wondered what it was written for...or _who_ it was for. From what he had found so far, Mario felt that this letter could've belonged to anyone! After all, what about those naked women? Maybe one of them had the same name as their mother!

As sickening a thought as that was, Mario knew it could be possible...

He slowly began picking at the flap. Whatever was written on the paper, Mario just knew...he had a sinking feeling that he wouldn't like the contents of that letter.

"M-Mario?"

Getting worried, Luigi called out his brother's name. When Mario didn't look up from his current activity, Luigi reached out to tap his shoulder.

"Weege, listen. It's from...him." Mario hissed as he quickly scanned the letter.

It was for them, all right. But why did he write this letter? What was the purpose of it?

Luigi was beyond scared, and he knew he should have never showed him that box. The very way Mario now talked about his father-the utter digust he heard and the heated anger and rage he could feel all around his brother-it made Luigi regret that he ever showed Mario any of it.

He let his hand fall limply next to him, his shoulders quivering slightly. _'I knew it. I knew it! He's going to hate him now, and I didn't want that! I...I thought that we could...'_

Luigi wasn't sure what he could do anymore. He knew better than to show Mario this box. He knew better than to even take the thing out of his mother's room! He knew better...

And while he didn't hate their father before, very, very slowly, the timid and mild teenage boy was beginning to feel some resentment towards the man. More than anything, he was feeling somewhat curious.

Just what was the point of all this? Why make a box if he couldn't man up to whatever he did?

What was going to happen now?

Mario meanwhile, had torn the letter open and looked at the neat handwriting before him. For some reason, that got his blood boiling.

Something in this written excuse was really eating away at Mario, and he had a feeling that his father, the man he had always looked up to as hero, the one man who he saw an the ultimate good person and husband to his mom...was nothing more than a fake.

_'An excuse?'_ he told himself as he skimmed the letter, confirming what he wished he didn't know.

_'He hurts Mom...hurts Luigi and me...and damn well LIED to all of us, and all he can offer is an EXCUSE!' _Mario raged in his head.

He noticed Luigi sitting a bit farther away from him, and took a deep breath. He was frightening his brother, and that was the last thing he needed to be doing.

"Sorry, Weegie..." he mumbled.

Luigi nodded timdly. "I-It's okay. What a-about you?" he asked, moving over close enough to see his face.

Mario sighed, shoulders slumping, trying to absorb the sad truth about his once loved father. That letter was gonna answer everything about everything, and at this point, Mario felt that his father had lost all but respect from him.

"Let's read the letter." Mario stated softly. Luigi nodded again.

Mario began to read the letter aloud, trying so very hard not to let his temper fly.

'_To my sons and my wife,_

_Words cannot begin to convey the hurt I feel as I write this letter. If you are reading this, then the boys have to be at least 13 or 14 by now. Or at the very least, old enough to understand._

_You have all been the most important things to ever happen in my life, which is why this letter is so hard to write._

_First off, I want to write to say that I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I was never the father you boys deserve to be, or the husband that you deserve to call your love. Nothing that I seem to do is ever enough, and I feel like this is the only way to get this off my chest. _

_Catherine, I want to tell you everything. I have to tell you everything if I ever want to move on with my life, and allow you to move on as well._

_You were right. You were right from the beginning. I was lying to everyone, to myself. _

_I understand know...that I am nothing more than a dog. And I should be the one to tell you this before anyone else._

_ I cheated on you repeatedly. And I believe that I have at least three more kids. Currently, as I'm writing this letter to you, I am in the home of another woman, my longest-standing relationship so far. I've been having an affair with her for almost seven years, which is about the same time we had those boys._

_I lied to you about...I guess everything. I never really and truly loved you, Cathrine. I don't think I could find it my heart to want you like I want Sally. She gives me so many things, so many different feelings, emotions...things I just never got from you, Cathrine._

_You are beautiful, and you should know that. I think that was the main reason why I fell for you in the first place, because of your beauty and your graceful behavior. Even after having little Mario and Luigi, you were still the most dainty, gorgeous creature I ever slept with._

_But at the end of the day, beauty is nothing more than a phase. I know that from experience. I love Sally because her beauty is both inner and outer. You Cathrine, are mere outer beauty. That isn't enough for me. _

_And there's one more thing. This one mainly concerns the boys._

_ I know that you love those boys more than anything, which is why I wanted to tell you this as well._

_I want to give custody of those boys to you. I know that they should live with their mother, and to be honest, I don't want them to be sucked into this life. I never want them to follow in my footsteps, Mario especially._

_It's hard enough as a grown man, but a thirteen year-old boy can't survive in a city this large! None of them can! And they don't need to be._

_I'm chuckling to myself as I'm doing all this. I sound so damn pathetic, and you know what? I am. I admit it, Cathrine. I am the worst possible type of man out there._

_As I sit here thinking about them, I realize that in order for any of us to be happy, I have to cut all ties of this family. When we get divorced...I want no part of the boys' life. Other than the occasional visits, I can't get too involved with them...'_

Mario stopped reading, his anger growing more and more. Luigi, who had listened but didn't understand, asked, "Mario...what did he mean by this? He wants no part of this family?"

Mario shook his head, mumbling, _'That explains everything...'_

Luigi was still confused, and when he had asked again, Mario snapped, crumpling the letter and throwing it on the ground.

"Luigi, stop being such a moron! This...this bastard lied to Mom and to us! He never wanted us...he didn't think he'd be with Mom long enough to have us...or to want to love us..."

Luigi's eyes widened as what his twin said finally clicked. "So...So Dad...never wanted us...to exist?"

Mario shook his head no. "I should have known. He used to act so...weird around us, around Mom...and that day, when they were fighting...Mom as right, and she knew it..."

Luigi's eyes were filling with tears, and he hastily wiped them away. "So...h-he really lied..."

Mario punched the wall. "Gah! No! He's not our father, Luigi! This trash is no father...he is nothing but a heartless jerk. I never want to see him in my life again!"

Mario walked to the farther part of the room to try and cool off, purposely stepping on the letter. Luigi went to retrieve it, and to talk to his twin.

It seemed like the roles switched. All of sudden, Luigi actually felt sympathy for his father...although what he did was unbelievably stupid and ignorant...

"Maybe we should show Mom? She might of seen it; maybe she could tell us what he meant..." Luigi suggested, straighting out the wrinkles out of the letter.

Mario looked at his brother. "She's happy as she is now. She's married, and she's moving on! So why on Earth would we do that, Luigi? Come on, man!"

Luigi didn't know what else he could do. He glanced at the letter, and then his brother as he walked across the room, back to the little black box.

"Then...can we show this to Dad...and maybe get an explanation from him?" he tried again.

Mario looked at Luigi liked he lost his sanity. "Did you hear _anything _I just said?" he yelled.

Luigi yelled back, "Yes, I heard! But we're not gonna know anything if we don't ask any questions! _Someone_ has to know _something_ about this!"

"And what if they're lying? What good would that info be then, Luigi? Huh?"

Luigi was starting to get really upset. "Well, at least I'm not snapping all over the place! You need to calm down so we can figure out what we can do, Mario!"

Mario growled under his breath, and attempted to calm down, only to get mad all over again.

"Calm or not, the fact of the matter is that jerk doesn't care anymore! What do you want to know, huh? Why this guy made us, knowing full well that he never wanted to, and then leave us? Is that what you want to know?"

Luigi shook his head, tears running down his face. "I-I don't know! But _not_ knowing the reason for this letter isn't gonna help us, either!"

"Agh, why are you always so darn idiotic! For once, stop trying to fix everything that happens! It's done and over with, okay? This bastard hated all of us!"

At that, Luigi grew even more upset. "Don't call him that!"

"Why? He is, and you know it!" Mario retaliated, throwing some of the pictures in the box to lock it.

"But you...you used to love him! He's still our father, no matter what! And at least he admitted what he did!" Luigi said in defense.

Mario said nothing for a bit. Then:

"You really are a stupid idiot sometimes."

At that, Luigi got angry, stormed over and slapped his older brother's face.

"I'm not an idiot for wanting to know the truth!"

At that, Mario stood up, glaring at his little brother before his hand flew though the air and connected with his face, the slap echoing throughout the room and causing little Luigi to stumble backwards.

"You ought to be! Sometimes I really have to wonder how the heck we're twins! You have _no _common sense, Luigi!"

Luigi's hand rested on his stinging cheek, and more tears fell. "A-And _you're _too hotheaded!"

Mario was getting tired of arguing, and unlocked the door, completely ignoring the fear and pain in his twin's eyes. He stopped for just a moment, sctraching the cheek Luigi slapped. It wasn't hard, but it did leave a slight sting.

"I really wish you weren't my brother sometimes. Maybe then I could move on with my life."

Luigi was hurt, but could barely think of anything to say. So he came back with the most truthful statement he could think of.

"Who wants to live with a hotheaded jerk like you, anyway?"

Just as Mario was leaving, he looked back at his younger brother and said, "Only a weak crybaby who can't get over the simple fact that no one likes him."

He closed the door, leaving an upset and crying Luigi with their father's things. Sobbing, he thought, _'I am not a crybaby...and I...I want to know the truth! What's wrong with that? I shouldn't have told him...I knew I shouldn't have!'_

He cried for sometime, and when he felt he could be upset no longer, he sat in the middle of the floor. The pain from earlier had ebbed away, although his cheek was still somewhat red.

After some time, he got up and located the letter he hadn't realized he dropped. He placed that in his bag, then he placed everything else back in the box and locked it before hiding it back in his underwear drawer.

"I don't care what he says. Tomorrow I'm going to visit Dad to get an explanation from him. If he doesn't want to come, better for me."

He put the slightly wrinkled letter in his book-bag, and then changed out of his clothes. Checking the time, he realized that it was almost ten, and that he didn't feel like doing any homework. He hadn't even felt the time go by so quickly, but he was still upset and hurt at his twin too much to really care.

_'Forget about him. If he has such a problem with me, then that's fine. I don't care.' _ he thought as he locked his door and turned out his light. He laid on his bed for a few more minutes, listening to the sounds of the city before he ended up falling asleep.

_'I don't care...'_

Meanwhile, in his room, Mario laid on his bed, thinking about his fallout with his brother.

He hadn't meant to slap him so hard...Luigi barely hit him, but the way he responded...he was too harsh.

_'I am such an idiot! I was WAY too harsh on him...and it makes sense to want to know why that bastard wrote that..why he did what he did...'_

He sighed. "And I never meant that, Weege...I'm glad you're my twin...I always was..." he whispered to himself.

Mario knew he had a temper, but he wasn't sure why he was so angry at his little brother. All Luigi was trying to do was help the situation the only logical way he knew how. And he had all the reason in the world to do that!

So why was he so angry?

He knew who he should have been angry at...but it wasn't his brother.

_'Maybe Weegie's right. I do have a nasty temper, and I can be so damn unreasonable at times like this...'_

Mario looked over at his alarm clock. It was after ten, and he knew he should have been asleep by now. But he couldn't sleep just yet.

_'It's me. I loved him...I still kinda do, but...I don't know if I can ever forgive him for making Mom cry so much that night...'_

He sighed. "We were all we had that night...it could've been worse, but for some reason, it never was. We stood together as one...and Mom came back to us, smiling and everything. I almost thought she never would..." he muttered to himself.

He looked over at his clock again. "I wonder...nah. He'd been in bed by now."

Sighing, he got up to turn out his light, turned on his TV and listened to the news until he fell asleep as well.

He'd have to sort this whole mess out before his younger brother did something stupid. He could only hope that Luigi wasn't _completely_ angry at him...and wouldn't go ahead with his plan.

* * *

**I hope you all liked this chapter! I just wanted to leave a quick note.**

**I based this chapter off my view of my own father. It's a long story that would eat up too much space, but the beginning of the chapter tells it in a sense. My family life is very weird, even more so than average, and that gave me some inspiration to write this one. If you're still confused, PM me.**

**Okay, enough of my issues. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for reading! I'll update as soon as I can!**

**Until next time! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

A Simple Promise  
Chapter 7

Mario sighed as he heard the beeping of his alarm clock. 7:00. Time to wake up and face the world. And his brother.

Something told him that Luigi was out to do something outrageous, and he figured he may as well take the silent treatment _after_ he apologized for acting like an idiot.

Mario went downstairs, thinking about what to say to his brother. Entering the kitchen, he found Luigi already eating a bowl of cereal and looking just as lost and out of it as Mario was.

Mario looked at him and smiled a little before heading off to make his breakfast for the morning.

Luigi, who looked up after finishing his ceral and seeing his older brother was in the kitchen, sighed. _'Why am I being such an idiot? I should go apologize to him. I know Mario means well, and I shouldn't have done what I did...'_

Luigi finished his cereal and just as he prepared to stand up, Mario sat down next to him, took a deep breath, and blurted out as loud as he could- "I'm sorry, Weegie!"

Luigi jumped, nearly knocking over his bowl, his hand quickly flying up to his chest to calm his racing heart.

"Good grief! You scared me, Mario!" he panted.

Mario smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, chucking. "D-Did I? Sorry about that. Didn't mean to...and Weegie, I-"

Luigi put up a hand. "It's alright, Bro. I heard you. And I forgive you. And..."

Mario tilted his head a bit. "You what, bro?"

Luigi looked down, ashamed. "I...I'm sorry for being so stupid. I know you mean well."

Mario chuckled, dismissing that entirely. "You are NOT stupid, Luigi. So don't apologize for how you felt."

Luigi stared at his brother. Since when had Mario become so...wise?

"What...?"

Mario nodded. "You heard me. You were right when you got mad. I'm...pretty knuckleheaded, and I...I guess I just didn't want to believe that what we found was Dad's. But...I thought about it...and..."

Luigi continued to look lost. Mario went on.

"I thought about it. Dad...he was pretty secretive...and I never really noticed it, mainly cause we were younger and a lot more 'stupid' then we are now. So what you felt that night..."

Mario sighed, looking at his brother with a wisdom that Luigi had never seen before. "You were right. And I'm sorry, bro. Sorry for hitting you...and for what I said."

Luigi blinked, still unable to find words for a moment. Then he smiled, and hugged his brother tight.

"It's alright, Mario. I...I just...I don't want us to fight like that anymore. Okay?" Luigi whispered in his brother's neck.

Mario hugged him back. "Yeah."

They pulled away, happy, when suddenly, Mario smacked his brother lightly upside the head. Luigi looked at Mario, a slight pout on his face.

"Heyyyyyyyyy!" Luigi whined, rubbing his head, and pouting. Mario laughed.

"Hey", Mario said, shrugging. "It had to happen."

They laughed together, and Mario felt relived that they were able to talk it out befoer things got any worse. He loved his family, and he knew Luigi was right. They did deserve some answers as to what happened.

"So bro, what should we do? About Dad?"

Up until that point, Mario had no idea what they should have said or done. He knew they couldn't tell their mother until they had solid proff that this was indeed Dad's intentions, that this was the whole truth.

Mario thought about it as they headed to grab their bags and books. He didn't want to see the scumbag, but Luigi just wanted to know why.

And strangely enough, so did he.

"Hey Mario, did he leave any address of any kind?" Luigi asked, snapping Mario out of his thoughts.

"I think he did...I gotta check that blasted box of his again. But our best bet might be to do it after school. We come back, act normal, so Mom won't get too sus...too suspe-"

"Suspicious?" Luigi corrected.

"Yeah, that! We can't let Mom know about this at all! So what we do, right after school, is come home and start going through all that stuff. There's gotta be something there that can lead us to him...and then, we can go from there."

"If we do have the address, we should probably check online so we know where to go, right?" Luigi asked.

"Yeah...you got a point there. " Mario mused, having forgotten that part himself. He shook it off just as quickly, and grinned confidently at his brother.

"But once we know where to go, we go!"

Luigi liked it when Mario thought of everything, even if he sometimes missed a step. But it helped him to know that he wouldn't have to face his evil father alone. It felt right because they were going to go together.

Now all he had to hope was that Mario wouldn't try to kill the man...

"Alright, Bro? You should've known I wasn't gonna leave you hanging like this!" Mario said, clapping Luigi lightly on the back. Luigi nodded.

After grabbing their bookbags and making sure that everything was put out of their mother's sight, the two boys headed off for school, saying bye to Mom and getting their lunch money for the day.

_'I'm really glad Mario decided to come along with me. To be honest...there was no way I was gonna be able to do this without him."_

Luigi sighed. Today was gonna be something else...but at least he knew he was ready.

_'It's time to figure this man we call 'Dad' out...once and for all.'_

* * *

**Yeah...this isn't one of my more favorable chapters, but I tried my best. It's also shorter than the others, but considering I couldn't work on it for some time, I'm not too upset.**

**Well, let me know what you think! Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi all! Here's chapter 8. I hope you enjoy! I own nothing more than the plot and my Luigi plushies! :D**

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A Simple Promise  
Chapter 8

Mario and Luigi went to school that day, not knowing what to think or say to anyone else. It was like they were trapped in some sort of nightmare.

Luigi was trying to pay attention in math class, his most favorite subject, but found that thoughts of their father kept invading his mind. It was annoying him so bad, but what could he do when there was a high chance that his father was a possible liar?

Once the bell rang for lunch, Luigi caught Mario as he was heading outside inside of sitting with their friends. He figured that this must've been troubling him, too.

"Hey, bro. Don't you want to sit with our friends?"

Mario looked up as his little brother sat down next to him. He gave him a little smile, although Luigi could clearly see the sadness behind it.

"Nah, I kinda wanted to be alone. You can join them if you want."

Luigi didn't want to have to explain to all their friends why Mario wasn't with them, plus, he couldn't leave his older brother sitting there looking lost...even though he felt the exact same way. "It's about Dad, isn't it?" Luigi simply asked, placing his tray aside and looking Mario in the eye.

Mario placed his tray in front of him, clasping his hands together and thinking. For a thirteen year old child, Mario could look highly serious about things.

"I feel like…like an idiot…such an idiot…" he muttered. Luigi sighed.

"Bro, you're not an idiot. Dad...that man...he had us all fooled. You can't blame yourself for that."

Mario nodded, hearing but not really _hearing _what his little brother meant. He looked sideways at Luigi and asked, "Weege, tell me something. I want to hear the truth, too, and I won't get mad, alright?"

Luigi nodded. "Sure. What's up?"

"Do you still love him? Our father?"

Luigi opened his mouth to answer, but found that he couldn't, and snapped his mouth shut. He looked away as he pondered the question for a while. Mario chuckled extremely quietly to himself and looked out at the kids running around for recess. He had wondred that same question himself, and he realized that he didn't have answer still... he wondered how Luigi would respond.

But would he be upset if his brother still had even a little love for him? After all, Luigi had always known life with both parents. Although their mother's new beau was alright, he couldn't help but think that they should be with him, despite what he wrote.

"Mario?" a quiet voice called. Mario looked at him brother, his hand resting on his chin in thought.

"To answer your question honestly...I do. I can't help it, but I..."

Mario waited as Luigi fiddled with a strand of his light brown hair. "It's not right, you know? To hate him after all the years we've lived and known him. I wanted to so much that night, Mario. I wanted to hate him just as much as you did, but I just _couldn't!"_

Mario watched as Luigi sat straighter up, a small smile on his face. "I guess...at the end of it all...I'll always have to love him because he helped give birth to Mom... but I don't have to like him."

Mario liked when Luigi talked like he did. He really knew how to cheer a brother up. "You have a point there, Bro."

Luigi smiled. "Mario, do you want to see him, or do you think we should wait?"

"Wait? For what? He's _never _gonna tell us the truth if we wait, Weege. If we want to know why he lied to all of us, we need to face him _today!"_

Luigi was afraid Mario would say that, but he kinda wanted to know, too. So he agreed, before another thought came to mind. "Hey, Bro. If we do find out what we want to know...should we, you know, tell Mom?"

Mario froze at that question. Quite frankly, that was one part of the paln he hadn't given much thought to. "Shoot...", he muttered, "I didn't think about that..."

The two boys looked at each other, hoping the other would know what to say. Before they could put together a great tale to tell their mother later, the bell rang. Luigi looked at their lunch trays and laughed.

"We never did eat, huh, bro?"

Mario laughed as well, picking up his lunch tray and standing up. Luigi followed suit. "Ehhh, we'll grab something to eat on the way home."

They dumped their lunch trays out, then headed to class as usual, all the while avoiding the nosy questions their friends asked them. They decided to work out that last little snag in their plan later on, _after _they found out what they wanted to know.

* * *

The school bell rang, and Mario sighed as he grabbed his text books, finally free of his stupid math class. Ever since lunch, he'd gotten more and more anxious about this little 'trip' he and Luigi were about to make. He hoped, deep inside he hoped... he really was making the right decision.

Once outside, he found Luigi sitting on the steps at the front of the school, twirling his keychain around his finger. He looked highly bored.

"Alright, Bro! You ready?"

Luigi looked up and nodded, putting the keychain away. "Yeah. So we have to...take the number 7 bus to Hope Street, right?" Luigi asked again as he and Mario made their way to the bus stop.

Mario nodded, getting out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Yeeeeep", he dragged out as he read over the directions again. "That's the one. Hope and 20th. Once we get to Hope, we gotta walk about a block or so. His apartment complex should be on 23rd and Hope." He folded the paper again and sighed.

"Lucky for us, it's not so far away Mom won't know we're over there."

They reached the bus stop, and a few seconds later, the number 7 bus came down the street. The two got on, paid their bus fare, and sat down. They would reach their father's house in another thirty minutes or so.

"Yeesh, I'm nervous. You think...he'll answer our questions, bro?" Luigi muttered.

"Her's going to have to. He owes us that much." Mario answered. Luigi accepted that one and looked out the window.

_'Man, just when things go good... I actually manage to drag us into this mess...'_

The rest of the ride was pretty quiet. Once the bus announced that they had reached 20th and Hope, Mario and Luigi exited. The bus took off, and the two young boys looked around the neighborhood. Luigi was horrified.

As far as they could see, all the homes and complexes were run down, some to the point where a slight stomp, and it looked like the thing could cave in. There were homeless people staggering drunkenly on the other side of the street, some asking passer-by for change. Graffiti covered every surface that was there, and it smelled like Death had hit that area twice.

Luigi clung to Mario's arm, but the latter seemed like he was horrified, too. _'Dad... lives here?'_

"M-Mario... w-w-which way?" Luigi asked, his voice shaking.

Mario pointed down the street to his right. "That way... keep close to me, and don't look at _anyone, _okay? This area isn't safe." Mario whispered. Luigi whimpered, not needing to be told twice.

"O-Okay."

Together, the boys walked the block and a half to the address of their father. The entire walk, random homeless drunks kept asking for change, holding out dirty hands and looking at them with disgruntled, unkept beards and hair. The smell was enough to knock anyone out and then some, and Luigi kept gagging because of it.

"Shhh! Don't do anything that may draw attention to us!" Mario hissed, now beyond petrified. Luigi nodded, attempting to walk and keep his face buried in Mario's sleeve. Mario ignored the smell, but he really had to wonder, just what part of the city had the boys ended up in?

They crossed the street, and it was then that the obvious condition of the homes really became clear. Everything was crumbling so badly, the had to keep dodging out of the way to avoid falling debris. Mario stopped, looking around him and his younger brother before pulling out the directions again.

"...this can't be the area..." he muttered to himself. Luigi peered over his brother's shoulder.

"Mario?" he whimpered. Mario sighed.

"We're in...the right place..." he mused, horrified at the thought his father was actually living among these... people, "but... Dad, he had a job... he shouldn't be living like this... in this..."

A thought came to Luigi right before he brother could put two and two together. "Mario, what if Dad... never kept his job? He may have lost it after he left Mom, or his new girlfriend probably takes his money."

Mario tapped his chin in thought, but a sudden movement, and the two began to move quickly through the neighborhood. their father's house couldn't be far now, although it sure felt like it.

_'Maybe Weege's right. Just how much has this man lied to us?!' _Mario thought angrily as they walked.

One way or another, they were **going **to get the truth. Afterward... well, Mario would deal with that later.

_'For now... I better focus on getting us outta here!'_

* * *

And there's the end of another chapter! :) Sorry for the massive delay- just when it seems I got one problem fixed, my computer is acting stupid and my flash drive's busted, so I can't update as often! :P

Regardless, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	9. Chapter 9

**Well, then. I have been gone way longer than I should have been... I have no organization whatsoever! :P But I'm very sorry for those who have been reading and reviewing my stories! I wanted to make sure that I still remember my own plotline! -_-**

**I really do apologize for the lateness. Now that I have a computer, I'm back in business! So here's the newest chapter, as a bit of a late Christmas and New Years present. Enjoy, and please, continue to leave your reviews! I really appreciate them! :)**

**I own no Mario characters. All go to Nintendo.**

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A Simple Promise

Chapter 9

Mario pulled Luigi by the hand as the two young boys continued the search for their father. Both of them were feeling nervous, and it was obvious Luigi wanted to back on more than one occasion. Each had their own concerning thoughts that plagued their minds and just made them flat out worried.

Luigi didn't look back up since they started walking. He kept quiet, kept his head down and hoped to high heaven that he really didn't make a mistake that would mess up everything their family had worked hard to build. It took his mom quite some time to trust another man, let alone date. She seemed happy, and she probably moved on.

Moved on and looked forward to the future... like they believed they did...

_'So why can't we...? What do we want to know about him?' _Luigi mused. He wasn't sure what he wanted to hear at all... or if seeing the man was the best idea!

All of this seemed to be a lot, even though it wasn't all that hard to solve. But he told his twin... and unfortunately, Mario had other plans and wasn't planning to turn around at all.

_'This jerk... I swear, he better have a reason for doing this to Mom... for lying to everyone! I really hope I never become like him... I really do!'_

Mario was beginning to wonder if his address was even correct. He looked around once and tugged Luigi along as they hurried along down 22nd street. Luigi was petrified beyond words. He simply clung to his older brother and followed him.

'_I just wanna go home… but Mario's here. I'll be safe… we have to be…'_ Luigi thought worriedly as he stole another quick look at his older brother.

Mario was biting his lip and looking dead straight ahead, his face in a thinking expression Luigi had never seen before. This whole finding their father thing must've really brought out something in him, but Luigi couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He shuddered. It was best to not think about it. He talked about it, he wanted to do this on his own...and look where they were now...

_'Glad Mario was so hardheaded he wanted to come...I didn't think this plan through very much...'_

After walking for another few blocks, they reached a pretty old looking apartment... although Luigi nearly thought the place was condemned from the horrible condition the front yard was in. Mario looked up at the address that was barely hanging on, and gasped.

"When I thought Dad had moved to someplace better... I don't think death traps in this ugly, dirty part of town with these weirdo hobos was part of the deal..." Mario said in surprise.

Luigi looked up, too, right up at that hanging number that was really starting to scare him senseless. "M-Mario... I'd rather we move... this isn't safe at all, and... that two..."

The two boys stepped back to fully see the address. "2276 Hope Ave…" Luigi barely breathed out. Mario nodded, although he wasn't sure what his younger twin had said.

"Dude... this place is it's own trap zone..." Luigi muttered. And then it finally hit him that he was actually here... there was no way he could back out of this now... and for some reason meeting his father really seemed like he was prepping for an exam... so _nerve-wracking..._

"Weege… this is it. Dad's home…" Mario muttered. Luigi gulped. Suddenly, he really wanted to back out, forget what he saw, go back to their mother and their rooms and their lives… forget their dad entirely.

Mario looked at his younger brother. He could sense that Luigi wanted to back out, but he knew better. Luigi would not have brought this up otherwise. He just needed a little... brotherly encouragement.

"Bro… are you sure you wanna do this? We can go home now, if you want."

Mario could care less about the neighborhood. He didn't care about the rags people wore, their attitude, the smell, the terrible atmosphere or anything else. That was nothing.

It was the way Luigi was trembling in place that worried him.

Mario gave Luigi a comforting hug, and Luigi clung to him even tighter than before. "Luigi, you trust me, right?" Mario asked softly in his ear.

"Ummm hmmm…always have…" Luigi muttered.

"Keep trusting me, and know that I'm not letting anyone or anything hurt you in _any_ way, shape or form. You are my twin, and anyone who even so much as _look_ at you the wrong way will answer to me. Understand?"

Luigi just nodded. He knew Mario meant every word he said, and he knew he'd be safe. So what was making him so nervous?

'_I know this is scary, bro… believe me… I'm scared, too.' _Mario told himself. He could feel his heart racing in his chest.

Mario winced inwardly at that argument they had before Luigi showed him their father's keepsake box. And he thought Luigi was scared then…

Mario pulled away from Luigi, and the two looked up at the old apartment complex once again. Besides the rusty numbers, the deadly number 2, and the overall structural decay of the building, Mario figured that it was better than what they had seen so far.

"Let's go find him."

They boys walked up the three small stairs, reaching the lobby door. Mario peered inside. He had to squint to see clearly inside the building, as the window had quite a bit of grime on it.

Inside, Mario could make out the light, which looked like was on, but barely functioning right. He looked to the right, and saw there was an overweight woman, probably about the same age as their mother, carrying some shopping bags and waiting for an elevator. A small boy was wrapping his oddly skinny arms around one of the woman's legs and sucking on what appeared to be a lollipop.

Mario looked over to the left. An old, worn-out wooden desk sat a few feet away from the entrance. Seated behind it looked like a man who looked like he had nothing better to do with his time.

Luigi snuck up beside his brother and took a look inside the building. "Bro, it looks safe to me. What do you think?" Luigi whispered.

Mario nodded. "I think it's okay. Let's go see if that guy over there knows anything." Mario told his brother, pointing at the receptionist. Luigi nodded.

Mario pushed opened the heavy door, and it made such a loud noise that Luigi jumped and let out an unintentional shriek. Neither the woman, the child nor the man made any acknowledgement that they heard anything. Mario looked at his brother, who was trying to catch himself.

"Bro, calm down! It was just the door!" Mario told his brother, rubbing his back. Luigi nodded.

"I-I... know, but... g-g-give me a moment..." he said between breaths.

Mario laughed as his brother straightened himself up. "Weege, calm down! It was just the door!"

Luigi shook his head. "B-Bro... not funny.. not funny at all..." he panted.

Mario chuckled. "Looks like I have a new trick for April Fools next year!"

Luigi growled under his breath before he pulled Mario by the hand and led him toward the receptionist's desk. Mario looked around at the lobby.

"Tacky as ever... but why here, Dad...?"

Once Luigi and Mario reached the desk, Luigi stood on tiptoe and hit the small bell that rested on the desk.

"Excuse me."

The man looked kinda young to the twins, no more than 19 at best. He was extremely light-skinned and lanky. His black hair was spiked and long, a rough ponytail slung around his shoulder.

Mario tiled his head and made a face of disgust at the number of piercings in the man's ear. _'Ewwww... how does five of those things fit on one ear?'_

"Excuse me!" Mario said a bit louder, banging more on the silver bell

_'Is he really that tone deaf? So that's why Mom said not to get those thingys...'_

The young man looked down at the boys. "Yeah? Whatcha want, runts?" he said absentmindedly. Luigi thought that the man had a funny accent.

"We're looking for this apartment number." Mario explained, giving the young man the paper with the apartment number on it. Luigi cocked his head slightly.

In the slight gleam of the light, he made out the boy's name on his nametag: Frank.

'_Frank? This guy looks more like a … Mandura or… or something…but Frank?'_ Luigi thought to himself, recalling all the random high school teens he sometimes saw wearing those kinds of hairstyles.

"Oh, this dude... yeah, hang on..." Frank muttered, grabbing a binder and flipping through some pages. He stopped, ran his finger down the page, then grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled something down.

"Yeah, so here." Frank said, handing Luigi a small piece of paper. "This is who you're looking for. Go up to the, uh, forth floor or whatever. Two doors to your left."

Mario looked at the paper before looking back at Frank, who had quickly resumed looking at his phone. "Uh…yeah…. thanks..." Frank waved his hand dismissively before making some motion with his phone.

Mario shook his head as he led Luigi down the corridor to the stairs. They went up four floors, walked down two doors to the left, and at last, stood face to face with the apartment they were looking for.

"Apartment 4." Mario muttered. Luigi just stared. Just then, Mario remembered something.

"Hey Weege, what was on the paper that weirdo gave you?" Luigi shrugged.

"It had a name on it. Uhhh... Mario Rozzo? But who the heck is that?"

Mario knocked on the door. "We're going to find out. I think our dad may have cha-"

Before Mario could finish his thought, the door creaked open. The boys looked at each other, concerned.

"Is it... safe to go in?" Luigi asked in a hushed voice. Mario shrugged.

"I ... don't know. But let's go in. Hold my hand and stay close to me, alright?" Mario ordered firmly. Luigi happily took Mario's hand, and smiled more when he felt his older brother's fingers wrapping tight around his.

"Stay close."

Mario took a deep, steadying breath and pushed the door open. Peering inside, he could see that the place was like a tomb... dark, dank-smelling and overall, depressing.

_'This is definitely not Dad's place... he was always clean and organized... and his side of the room never smelled... is this the right place?' _Mario thought in surprise as he and Luigi walked a few more steps inside.

Luigi whimpered quietly to himself. He could not ever imagine his father being reduced to this kind of living, no matter what he wrote in that letter. His father was intelligent, and Luigi expected his living to be a lot more... extravagant. But this... this was just plain low for him.

The entire apartment smelled of rum and urine, like someone hadn't showered in months. Trash was covering the floor, the counter, and some large object sat dead center in the living room floor. Luigi figured it was his couch.

All of this made Luigi want to gag. How had all this happened? How had their dad gotten from living in a happy home to living in such... trashy conditions?

"Weege, do you see anything?" Mario whispered, quiet enough so Luigi could hear him.

"No...I can't see in front of-"

Before Luigi could answer, however, the door suddenly closed. Mario and Luigi jumped.

"W-what just... happened...?" Mario asked. Luigi huddled closer to his older brother. "I-I don't know... Mario, maybe we're in the wrong home. Let's go, please?" he begged him.

"Hello, you two. I guess you found the box after all."

The twins turned in surprise and fear. "W-Who is that?!" Mario demanded to know.

A figure stood in the corner of the kitchen. Mario felt around for a light switch, and once he found one, he quickly turned it on. Luigi gasped.

"M-Mario... it's Dad..."

Mario looked at Luigi like he lost whatever sanity hadn't left him from earlier that day. "Luigi, what the heck are you-"

Luigi pointed at the man standing in the small kitchen. Mario followed the finger. And his eyeballs went wide.

"Holy crap... Dad...no way..."

Mario blinked. He didn't quite think that was his father. He looked like something had chewed him up and spat him back out, just to chew him up again.

Once the shock wore off him, Mario demanded, "Who are you? Where is Mario Sr.?! Answer me!"

The figure chuckled. "Mario Sr...been a long time since I heard that name..."

Mario looked confused. "Heard... what? What on earth are you talking about? And who are you?"

At that, the figure walked out of the shadow and toward them, and Mario could finally see who he was speaking to. His blue hues widened in shock as he looked at the familiar face of his father.

"Y-You...really are our... no...you can't be him... you can't be him!"

Their father looked horrible. What was once a round, proud Italian man looked like someone had flattened all the fat out of him. His eyes were extremely red, and Mario could smell the malodorous stench from him. He was pretty sure he was drunk, as he faintly recalled that his dad had a special rum he kept around the house for 'special occasions' with their mother.

Luigi gawked as his father walked. His clothes looked like it could float him away; they were way too large on his now wiry frame. In one had he held a drink, probably some kind of rum. He looked crazy, overall. The boys were creeped out.

"Dad... no. You aren't our father. Our dad never lived like that... never wanted anything of the sort for himself. Why are you so pathetic? Why the hell did you leave our mom?! Huh?!" Mario demanded.

Luigi stood next to him, tears already falling without him knowing why. "You know who we are... you left all of us without even telling us the actual truth...but for what? For this? This isn't who you were then... and it's not who you are now!"

Their father looked at each of them carefully, taking sips of his drink and not saying a word.

"Who the hell are you?" Mario asked for the third time.

"I'm your father...Mario. Why do you keep asking that? And why... exactly are you here?" their father finally spoke. His voice was still smooth and calming, with no hint of emotion whatever. Mario grew more and more angry by the minute.

As a child, Mario was extremely close to their father. He loved him with his heart, and looked up to him as someone he wanted to become when he got older. He was always the one found fast asleep in a little red ball in his father's arms, and he loved that. It made him feel safe. He trusted his dad to do that... to always keep him safe.

Not now. Not anymore.

"You owe everyone around you an explanation. You owe Mom an explanation. You owe me and Luigi an explanation. We want the truth. What was with that box you left in the room?" Mario asked coldly.

Luigi didn't feel sad or scared anymore. In fact... it was quite the opposite.

Luigi knew that he didn't have that father-son bond that his older twin had with their father. He loved him, of course, and spending time with his father was just some of the memories he had of his family. Their dad was fun and loved to take them places, like the park and fun places like the beach, the amusement parks and even other cities just to get the boys out of the house.

Luigi thought that he was happy with their mom. He always doted on her, and she was always laughing whenever he told a bad joke or blew up something in the kitchen. Luigi liked his dad's terrible jokes, he loved the fun they had... problems seemed so far away...

But right now...Luigi was angry. Not as much as his brother, but he felt hurt, too. Why would he leave their mother and their home for living in this mess? What had he hoped to gain from doing that? What was here that he couldn't have at home with them?

There were more questions coming up than answers. Luigi was getting pissed.

"Dad...what is it? The box... what was it for?" Luigi whispered angrily. His young mind still couldn't comprehend that this raggedy- looking person who smoked, drank and smelled this terrible was his father, the one who used to play tag and hide and seek with the twins after Luigi's asthma attack all those years ago, who married his mother and made her laugh with Italian jokes that only he could pull off right.

Mario Sr. sighed, dragging one scraggy hand down his face. He seemed to find the whole Q-and-A thing to be both painfully irritating and just downright useless.

_'I think that these kids need to understand that this... isn't any of their business...'_

"Yeesh... there's a lot of questions being asked here. Did your mom give you the thing?"

Mario and Luigi paused, looking at each other and arching their eyebrow. He didn't even seem surprised at the fact that they had the box in their possession.

"No. Luigi found it."

Mario Sr. then turned toward to Luigi. "Where?"

"In Mom's room. It was hidden somewhere in there. Mom didn't know you had it, and we never told her." Luigi answered, all emotion drained from his voice.

Mario Sr. _actually _seemed surprised at that.. "Really?" he asked, seemingly astonished.

Mario rolled his eyes. "Yes, really.", he spat sarcastically. "Yeah... so, enough stupid stuff. Tell us what we want to know!" Mario asked for the second demanded.

Mario Sr. looked at his eldest son for a long while. '_This boy looks just like me... I wonder if he'll grow up to be like me, too...'_

"Hmmm... I guess I could tell you that... but I don't think you can handle it right now." he answered finally. He turned to Luigi and looked at his face. Something about his face calmed the drunk dad even more than usual.

_'Huh... Luigi... he has my eyes... but I can tell that he has his mother's personality and heart... that's good.'_

"How did you find this place, anyway? You mother had no idea I moved here." Mario Sr. asked, his voice void of any emotion. He continued to look at Luigi's face.

"The address was in the box as well. We didn't tell Mom anything, not even that we were coming here. She doesn't know where we are right now." Mario answered coldly.

"Really now? So... if I were to kill you and get rid of the body..."

Luigi spoke up on that. "We know you won't. You're pathetic, and either one of us could take you down easily."

Mario Sr. whistled in amusement. His eyes seemed to have lit up briefly before returning to that flat gaze. _'Well! He has my feisty personality, too? Interesting...very interesting...'_

"Well, you guys have been paying attention. Very well then."

Mario Sr. walked around a table that sat in the middle of nowhere and pulled a chair out. He sat down backward on the chair, and pulled a bottle of rum not too far from him.

"What is it exactly... that you want to know?" he asked flatly, taking three swigs of his rum.

"Why the heck did you lie to Mom and treat her like she was worthless?!" Mario demanded again, his voice raising again.

Mario Sr. chuckled. "Hmmm... your mother... she was lovely. I never had a problem with her... when I met her, anyway."

Mario and Luigi put their bags on the ground. Mario Sr seemed to be lost in a moment of his, his eyes taking on a dazed, dreamy look. He smiled, and to Luigi, it seemed... sad.

"I did love her, believe that. I truly did. I wanted to marry her, and I wanted to have a family with her. We planned everything... and then one day, I just..."

"You just what? Flew out the window and hit your head?" Mario said sarcastically.

"Non posso perdonare, ma non mi interessa più..." *

Hearing that made Luigi very perplexed. "How can you not forgive yourself, yet you don't care?! That really makes no type of sense!" he yelled. Mario Sr. looked over at him.

"I know. You know, when I was writing that letter, I thought it did make sense. I really did not care, yet I really felt something for her. She didn't deserve me... but I couldn't feel sad about that."

He took a long, large swig of his rum. The boys were confused even more than ever. What the heck was he talking about now?

"I made that box about a month or two after we had gotten married. Before she got pregnant with you two. Once I found out that she was having twins, and that they were being named Mario and Luigi, I left that other note that you two found."

Mario Sr's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Did you see some pictures in there, too?"

Mario looked back the exact same way. "Yes. Naked weird ladies. Were those the people you left our Mom for?"

At that, Mario Sr.'s expression changed and he seemed like the devil had taken over him. He growled, his fists clenched and shaking.

"No... no, that is NOT what I left her for! I... I was sick, that was all... that was all it was... I was..." he muttered to himself, banging his fists against his head. Mario arched his eyebrows.

"Sick? That's an understatement. Okay, so why did you not love us? What did we do to you that caused that?"

Mario Sr. looked up, and Luigi felt a bit freaked out. He was starting to think that this man... this man who claimed to love them for all this time.. would want to kill them.

Mario felt the waves of fear that were slowly starting to emanate from his twin. He took a quick glimpse, then took his hand.

"Nothing." he answered simply.

Confused, he proceeded to explain. "I didn't hate you boys when Catharine gave birth to you. We had planned for a family, and the fact that I was going to be a dad to you two was... actually a really happy point in my life."

He sighed. "As you two grew... I began to realize that I didn't have that connection that I thought I would have. I mean, your Mom hadn't figured it out at first, and I didn't want to treat you two cold. You guys were young, and you wouldn't understand why I would be acting like that."

Mario started to feel the anger melt away from him. Holding Luigi's hand tighter, the two boys listened.

"I racked my head day and night, trying to figure out what it was that made me feel like that... that made me think and act like that... it really gave me nightmares..."

Mario didn't know what to think as his father spoke. He didn't love their mother... nor them. But he didn't understand why he sounded so sincere about something so cold and hurtful. It was making his emotions flare, and he wanted to scream, to lash out, to do anything to stop the thoughts that ran through his head.

Luigi looked over at his older brother, at the wide-eyed, pained expression that was on his face. He felt Mario nearly cut the blood flow being cut off as Mario's grip subconsciously tightened. He felt something coming off his brother in massive waves, but it was so conflicting that he couldn't sort it out.

_'Mario...? What's going on?'_

"One night, after dinner and you two had went upstairs... I went and talked to your mom. She knew I wanted a divorce, and she didn't ask me why. We were... trying to settle the issue of child custody with you two. Your mom wanted custody, naturally. I didn't want to break you two apart, and that was the... the lie I had convinced myself of. It seemed believable to your mother, and to me."

"So you did lie to us... to us all..." Mario mumbled. And then, just like that, the anger came back full force. Mario let go of Luigi and stormed up to his father, his hands balled so tight Luigi swore that his palms were turning white.

"So you basically walk out on us... you leave Mom to go through living hell... you leave us confused for half out life... and you can't even give a good FUCKING ANSWERR!?" he yelled.

The next thing Luigi knew, his older twin had threw a punch, his father was jumping out of his chair, and the bottle of rum had fallen. His brother, who was barely a few inches shy of his father, had quickly pinned him to the floor and was punching the daylights out of him.

"MARIO!" Luigi screamed, his senses finally back.

"You...you bastard... you fucking bastard! Why?! Why would you lie to us again?! WHY CAN"T YOU TELL US THE TRUTH YOU WORTHLESS EXCUSE FOR SHIT?! I HATE YOU!"

"Mario... what are you trying to do?!" Luigi yelled, trying his best to pull his brother off. Mario kept punching, almost like he was in some sort of trance.

Luigi was getting horrified. His father was getting pummeled and his brother didn't seem to be listening to reasoning very much. He watched as Mario screamed and yelled at his father, and his father doing virtually nothing to defend himself.

"You... fucking... bastard! YOU LIED TO ALL OF US! WHY?! I HATE YOU, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF TRASH! **DIE!"**

Luigi couldn't stand his brother going off like that... his father being beaten and not even trying to stop it. So he did the only thing he could think of.

Storming up to the scene, Luigi pulled his fist back and let it fly right in his brother's face. Mario flew off his father, his father looked dizzily around, and Luigi stood there with his hand hanging in the air, still panting heavily.

For a few minutes, there was nothing but silence keeping the three company. Luigi finally regained some senses and checked on his father, who seemed to be floating in and out of consciousness.

"...Dad...are you alright?" Luigi asked quietly. He looked worried, and thought about calling the police when a raspy cough sounded below him.

"H-Heh... heheheheh... y-you have... quite a fist there, Mario... just like me, eh..." Mario Sr. spat out bitterly. He shoved Luigi aside and stood on slightly wobbly legs.

Mario was still sitting on ground, head tilted like he was lost in the woods. His cheek was swollen from his younger twin's ridiculously hard punch.

Luigi turned and looked at his brother before going to him. "Mario... I'm sorry..." Luigi whispered, extending a hand out to help him up. Mario looked at the hand and took it. No speaking, no screaming. No emotion whatsoever.

"H...he...hehehehehehe... so you hate me, eh?" his father said tauntingly. "You think you're any better than me? You are from me, so does that mean you hate yourself?"

Suddenly, Mario chuckled. Straitening himself up, he let his head drop slightly to one side, and laughed quietly.

"You know something? You're probably right. But either way... I really hate the fact that we're related to each other. The mere fact that Mom actually decided to _date_ you is very upsetting. I hate the fact that we look so much alike, that we act alike... I hate you... I really hate you." Mario yelled.

Mario gritted his teeth. "I actually had the audacity to look up to you... but not anymore. You know, Mom was right. You are nothing but a deadbeat... and you always will be. Go back to your whore. You deserve her." he said coldly.

Mario turned and walked toward the door, grabbing his schoolbag and tossing Luigi his. Luigi seemed dumbfounded. "M...Mario...?" Luigi asked meekly.

"Let's go, Luigi. We're leaving. Let this bastard called a father wallow in his own filth." Mario said, his tone telling Luigi that he shouldn't try to argue it. He nodded and began to follow him out the door.

Nothing more was said between the two. Mario and Luigi walked out of the apartment and didn't look back.

_'If we want to know why that man acted like he was... we have to ask Mom... but I wonder if she's gonna be happy with the fact that we left for here in the first place... or that we even found that box...' _Mario thought to himself as he and Luigi walked down the stairs.

_'But is she going to want to tell us once she hears the story of this... trip... grrrrrrrrrrr...'_

Mario sighed as he and Luigi exited the complex and began the walk back to the bus stop. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he forgot that Luigi was walking with him. Luigi didn't mind. He needed to think about what just happened himself.

_'Mario really almost killed Dad... and Dad didn't answer any of the questions we had... I guess this was a waste of time after all, and I got Mario riled up and angry... and I actually...'_

Luigi sighed. "I screwed up... I really screwed up..."

Mario looked over him. "What? What did you say, bro?"

Luigi looked over at his brother and shook his head. "N-Nothing... forget it."

"Weege..."

Mario stopped and pulled Luigi back with him. "Are you alright? I... I'm sorry if I scared you back there, or if I went silent on you. I didn't... I really didn't want to get mad like that..."

"It's fine, Mario. I know how you get. He deserved it." Luigi muttered, completely lost in his own world.

Mario caught the dazed tone in Luigi's voice. "Hey, you alright?"

Luigi nodded. "Yeah... just a bit shaken up is all... I'll be alright."

Mario could see clear as day that Luigi's mind was elsewhere, and he figured when Luigi got his thoughts sorted out and he felt a bit more comfortable, he would talk about it. He needed some time to think about what happened himself.

And standing around in this weird part of town wasn't helping any.

"Mario... can we go home now? Please?" he asked softly. Mario nodded.

"Yeah, let's hurry up and get back. It's probably almost dinner, and Mom said she was making our favorite tonight."

Luigi smiled. It was shrimp and alfredo night. That would certainly take his mind of this whole mess.

"Okay, Mario. Last one to the station is a rotten egg!" Luigi declared. Mario grinned.

"You're on!"

Luigi smiled as he and Mario ran down the blocks to the bus stop. Sure, this ended up being a horrible mess, and eventually, Mario would have to hear his mom's chewing out once she found out what he did to his dad. Mario had some explaining to do to Luigi, and Luigi had some questions he really wanted to ask.

But for now... they felt the best thing to do was to run and enjoy the company of each other and get some much needed stress lifted off their young shoulders.

* * *

**And here's Chapter 9! So sorry again for the massive delay!**

**Before anyone panics, don't worry. Not everything that took place in this chapter (so far) actually happened in my family. Me and my dad mostly argued over stupid things. This argument was actually a similar one that my stepmom and my father had that I overheard, and was later told about from said stepmom. It's not all what I remember, and some of it was changed, as well as the mini-fight scene added. So there's the backstory to that. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I will answer as best and honestly as I can.**

***This means: "I cannot forgive myself, but I do not care about it anymore." I used Google translate to translate this, so if looks wrong, please PM me. I know zero percent Italian! :P **

**Thank you for reading! I've got some flow now, so I'm going to work on Chapter 10 tomorrow evening.**

**Until next chapter! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay! One more chapter to add to the story! :) Now if only I could keep this going... -_-**

**Well, I don't have too much to add right now, so please enjoy! I own nothing from Nintendo... how I wish I did... :P**

* * *

A Simple Promise

Chapter 10

Mario and Luigi felt relieved when they got to the bus station. Mario had won the race to the bus stop by a thin line. Luigi was laughing as they tagged the pole, forgetting that they were still in the bad part of town.

It felt nice to actually laugh after all that... drama that he had to deal with not too long ago. It made the whole thing seem like it happened ages ago...

_'Wonder why that is...'_

"Bro, you SO cheated! " Luigi laughed, panting as he caught his breath. Mario shrugged.

"What can I say? Your brother is just a natural!" he said, striking a pose that made Luigi laugh even harder. Mario laughed too, barely able to keep his pose together. It was quite the scene.

Two young boys, laughing like there was no tomorrow, in an area that would usually scare poor Luigi for months on end.

Luigi didn't understand that part, either. Sure, he was scared when they first arrived there... but standing at this bus stop, having fun with his brother after the stress of dealing with their useless excuse for a father... he didn't know whether the stench from the apartment sunk too far into his head or what.

But if it did... Luigi was very grateful for it.

"Oh brother... you're an idiot!" Luigi said, rolling his eyes. He resumed looking out for the bus, leaning forward into the street a little bit. Mario shrugged again and took his place resting against the cold steel bus pole.

"Well, you know you love me regardless, so there's that!" Mario said, feeling a lot better since he left. He thought that he was going to be seething with rage all the way back home, but he felt nothing of the sort right this minute. In fact, Mario actually felt... relieved. For the first time in a few weeks, he didn't feel so... jumpy and moody and... just angry at stuff.

He felt a lot better now. Maybe yelling at his father was just what the doctor prescribed.

After a few more silent minutes, the bus headlights made it's way down the street. Mario smiled in relief, glad that this nightmare of a day was finally through and done with. Luigi felt the same way, and watched as the bus slowed down one block away from them.

"Hey, Mario..."

Mario looked over at his brother lazily. "Yeah?"

"Umm... what _should_ we tell Mom? She's gonna want to know why we came back so late, and why we were out here in the first place." Luigi said thoughtfully as he watched the traffic light change to red.

"I have no idea. I'll think of something when we get home. But we can't mention that part to Mom... she will blow a fuse if she found out." Mario answered nonchalantly.

Mario knew that wasn't what he wanted to talk about; the expression on Luigi's face told it all. So he decided to come out with it point blank.

"Weege... you want to know why I went off in there, don't you?"

Luigi didn't respond, but gave his twin a look that answered for him. Mario shook his head and kept talking.

"I know you do. And I think I know what caused me to yell like I did. It was _him. _It's his fault that Mom could never seem to be happy anymore, no matter what happened. Remember? She was trying not to show it... but I always heard her crying at night, and it angered me so much."

Mario put his hand in his pocket, staring across the street. "Even after months had passed... she still seemed kinda sad, you know? I hated seeing Mom like that, especially after everything she did for all of us, him included. He had a simple life here... and he threw it all away."

Luigi looked at his brother in astonishment. He never heard Mario talk about _anything _that seriously... _'Dad must've really gotten to him if it bugged Mario this much...' _Luigi thought.

"You're right. But do you think we'll ever learn the truth from him about why he did what he did?"

Mario watched the bus drive down the block, slowing down at their stop. Mario reached into his pocket to get his token. Luigi slowly followed suit, waiting for his brother's response.

"You know... even if we do get that opportunity to hear his actual side of the story... I don't really think I'll care anymore. He's lied up until now, so what's to stop him from doing it in the future, you know? I don't really know how to answer your question, Weege, but... I guess we'll know when the time comes."

Luigi nodded, getting on the bus. He paid his fare and sat down near the window. Mario sat next to him.

"Yeah... but I wish we could get some straight answers around here."

* * *

"WHERE WERE YOU?!"

Mom was waiting outside for what felt like days to her, watching the block for any sign of her boys. She paced the floor for what she felt were hours at a time, despite the fact that only about three to five hours had passed since she last saw them.

She nearly reported them missing, but she stopped because she knew that they would come home. They had no reason to run away, and as far as she knew, they seemed pretty normal for the most part.

She did, however, spend an hour calling the school and all of their friends, checking to see if they had just went over there and forgotten to call or if they were playing soccer and just had too much fun to realize that it was getting late.

Mom sighed, and took a seat on the couch, resting her head on her hand. She knew they'd be back, but she wondered if there was some kind of change that she had somehow missed.

Luigi seemed the same to her, and Mario, although quieter than normal, seemed like he was fine, too. They sounded like they had made plans to go play a game with their friends, and she knew that once they started talking, they normally never paid much attention to anything else.

So when the boys came back, Luigi spaced and a lot quieter than usual, and Mario looking slightly annoyed, she wondered what kind of mishap must have happened to them.

"Uh... over at Nick's place? He, uh.. invited us over to play some games!" Mario quickly made up, suddenly aware that his mother was talking to him. Mario then caught the glimpse of the phone in his mother's hand, and prayed to the high heavens that she didn't call Nick's mom.

He pushed Luigi inside the foyer, in order to prevent him from saying anything more, as he looked like he was about to ask something. He didn't want to risk having Luigi ask her something about their father.

Luigi turned back around to face his mom, and she noticed something odd about his expression. To her, it seemed like he was looking at her, but not really _looking_ at her... it seemed more like he was looking _through_ her to something else. He was, to put simply, completely out of it.

"Luigi?"

He jumped a little. "Y-Yes?"

Mom forgot the anger she felt not too long ago, and placed her palm against Luigi's forehead, concerned. "Are you alright? Are you feeling well?"

Luigi slightly smiled, and asked in a sugar sweet voice only younger siblings could pull off, "Mommy, is it alright if we go eat some dinner? I'm really hungry, and I'm getting a headache."

Mom couldn't deny the adorable face of Luigi, or Mario for that matter, who was staring at her, making his 'pretty please, Mommy?" expression and making dramatic movements. Luigi just looked like he lost his favorite toy, but was trying not to show it.

_'What's going on? I wonder if they had a fight with Nick...'_ She sighed, a bit concerned about his earlier expression, but shook her head, a playful, exasperated smile appearing on her face. Ruffling Mario's hair, she said, "Yes, you guys _are_ probably are hungry... alright, go ahead and get yourself ready for some dinner. I made alfredo, shrimp for Mario and chicken for Luigi. Did you guys do your homework over at Nick's?" Mom yelled down the hall as the boys headed for their rooms.

"Yeah, we did!" Mario called back, glad to be in the safety of his own room. He sighed with relief, letting his bag drop to the floor noisily. He had a lot of work to do after dinner, and he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Man... I wonder if Weege's okay... he didn't look too well..."

Mario rested his head against his door, eyes closed in thought. _'I see why he's acting like that, though... he wanted it to be a peaceful encounter, to get some answers. But it seems like all I did was cause more trouble than I needed to. Now both of us are back at square one, and this trip was almost a waste. Although... it kinda wasn't at the same time...?'_

"We know where he lives now. We know how he lives, how he prefers to live. So then...maybe this wasn't entirely a failure!" Mario thought to himself.

Mario grunted in annoyance to nothing in particular, kicking his sneakers under his bed. He grabbed his pajama clothes. "Bah! I'll deal with this later. That alfrado smells good... and Mom did say she made shrimp..."

His stomach grumbled loudly in agreement, and Mario laughed, forgetting about everything that happened once again. He wanted to talk to his brother, but first thing first- food!

"Okay! Dinner, then talk with Weege!"

* * *

Luigi sat on his bed, one sneaker in his hand, one sneaker on the ground. He was still spacing out, and that headache he had seemed to be getting worse.

"I don't understand... why do I feel this way? Why can't I be like Mario... just push it out of my head and move on with life...?" he muttered, tossing the held sneaker over to his closet.

"What's wrong with me? Why am I act like a depressing idiot?"

Luigi sighed. This was just overall, difficult. Life seemed to be unraveling faster than he could keep up.

_'Mario probably thinks I'm mad at him. And poor Mom thinks I'm sick. But I shouldn't be acting this way. I mean... I should be happy that this mess was over and done. __I need to talk to him after dinner. But for now...'_

"... I need to calm down and not let Mom see anything is wrong with me."

A knock came at the door, halting all thoughts. Luigi smiled a little as Mario came walking in, decked out in his usual bedtime gear- oversized white and red t-shirt, and red and black striped pajama pants. He looked pretty happy, and Luigi thought that he had forgotten about his attitude earlier. He hoped he did, anyway.

_'But what are the chances of that...ugh, my head..._

"Hey, bro! Come on, Mom's heating dinner up! It's alfredo night!" he said happily, one hand in his pocket. He didn't seem the least bit stressed about the whole meeting their father ordeal, and smelled like he had just gotten out the shower.

"Y-Yeah, I'm coming. Bro, did you take a shower or something?" Luigi asked as he looked around for his slippers, trying to ignore his growing headache. Mario shook his head no.

"Why, do I smell good?" Luigi laughed softly.

"Yeah, sorta like... uh, that... shampoo you use randomly... can't remember the name of it, though..."

Mario laughed, waving his arm dismissively as he watched Luigi pull his bedtime slipper out from his closet and put it on. "Nah, not yet. But I think I will after I finish my homework. My clothes went straight to the laundry, though. They all smelled like... _him_. I need to get rid of that smell, you know?" Mario said, his voice going quiet. Luigi made a mental note to do the same with his dirty clothes later... once his head stopped throbbing, anyway.

"Weege, I want to ask you something."

Before he could, Luigi answered. "No, I'm not mad at you. I'm not mad at myself... I don't know. I feel really confused to be honest."

Luigi found his other green slipper and put it on. He was clearly annoyed, and Mario thought he looked a bit pale. "I don't know if visiting him was the right choice, you know? I'm not sure if we should have gone, if I should've found that box, if we should've did any of what we did!"

Mario shrugged, looking around before his eyes settled on the window. Luigi's curtains swayed slightly as a small breeze floated through his open window.

"Weege."

Luigi looked at his brother, hand gripping the doorknob, half-lidded look on his eyes. He wanted to go eat and sleep the rest of the night. But he had a feeling that Mario wasn't going to let him just yet.

"Bro?"

Mario chuckled to himself, and walked out of the room. "Bro, you know as well as I do that we need to talk. And you don't look very well. What's going on?"

"Nothing, Mario. I just... I have a headache. Probably from not eating, I suppose... that, and earlier today really kinda... drained me." Luigi answered, growing more and more drained.

"Bro... can we eat and talk tomorrow?"

Mario looked into his brother's eyes for a moment. He squinted in thought, before he found what he was looking for.

"Luigi... what's the matter?" Mario asked gently. Luigi didn't look back at his brother, but his hand trembled a little on the doorknob. He let his hand drop.

"N-Nothing... nothing, Mario." he mumbled. Mario arched an eyebrow.

"Luigi... you know Mom is gonna wanna know what's going on, too. And I'm concerned about you."

Mario reached out and rested his hand on his younger twin's shoulder. Luigi winced painfully, and Mario got extremely concerned when Luigi suddenly gripped his head in pain.

"Weege?! Bro, what happened?! Did I hurt you?!" Mario yelled.

Luigi fell to his knees, screaming as he gripped his head so tight, he risked pulling clumps of his hair out. Mario wasn't sure how to help him, but he figured keeping a good grip on him and trying to calm him was a good a start as any.

Mom, hearing the screaming, came running up the stairs, and her heart nearly stopped when she saw her son in utter pain. "Mario! Luigi! Boys, what is going on?!"

Mario tried to calm Luigi down, holding him steady as he talked to him, trying to get through to him. Luigi was still screaming, but at least he was still... at least, for the most part.

"MARIO!"

Mario turned to his mother, fear pretty evident in his features. "Mom, what do I do?! I can't get him to calm down!" Mario told his mother, fearing for Luigi's safety. Mom kneeled close to them, and took her young son's temperature.

"Oh my gosh... Luigi's burning up..." she mumbled fearfully. Pushing Mario away, she pried Luigi's hands away from his head.

"Luigi, can you hear me? Honey, you have to calm down!" she said firmly.

Luigi wasn't responding to anything she said. "Mom, is he... having another one...?" Mario asked, too afraid to hear the answer.

Mom shook her head no. "He didn't say he had a headache the last time... and even when he was a baby, there was never anything wrong with his head. It was always his breathing, his lungs, that troubled him..."

Turning back to her younger son, who was somewhat dangling limply as his hands were held away from his aching head, Mom asked, "Luigi? Can you hear me? Are you alright, baby?"

Luigi opened one eye, squinting as he looking blearily at his mother. "Mom...my...?"

Somehow, that worked. Mario blinked, but let out a massive breath of relief. Luigi was alright, and his mom was right. He was just thankful that he wasn't having another asthma attack or anything related to it... but the fever thing confused him... he didn't seem so bad earlier... and Mom did check his temp when he came back...

"M-Mom...mommy... my head really hurts..." Luigi tearfully whimpered. Mom hugged him tenderly to her chest, pulling Mario into her arms as well. She stroked Luigi's head as he buried his face in her chest, still whimpering about his headache.

"Mommy...I don't... feel...too...good..."

A soft sigh leaving his lips, Luigi fainted. Mario wasn't too concerned; he figured that Luigi was really exhausted, but from what?

_'Was he sick before we left to see him? Maybe something in the house caused him to act up...?'_

Mom smiled at her eldest son. "Come, honey. Let's take your brother to his room. I think he needs some rest and some medication. What do you say?" she said, clearly relieved that her son wasn't severely ill.

Mario nodded, and stood up. Mom took Luigi into his arms and stood up as well. "Mom..."

"Yeah, baby?"

Mario smiled sheepishly. "Can I... stay with Luigi tonight?"

She nodded. "Of course! We both will. How about... I make some chicken soup tomorrow for all of us, and we can eat alfredo another night?"

Mario had completely forgotten that he was starving during that brief period of panic. He chuckled, suddenly finding food a very bad idea. What the heck was going on? Was the visit to their father a good idea, or was it a bad one? What caused Luigi to act up like he did?

"Alright... that sounds like a good idea to me... " Mario mumbled.

Mario figured that talk with Luigi was going to happen a lot sooner than he thought. Well, he figured, better sooner than later.

Entering the room, Mom laid Luigi down on his bed and covered him. He didn't seem too in pain or anything, but Mario was still concerned about Luigi's head episode and his fainting spell. There was something there... something that Luigi knew was irritating him, but didn't think to say for some reason or another.

_"Mario...it's... the square root of.. tree... river..."_

Luigi was mumbling in his sleep again. Probably about his most recent test or something Mario did in class again. Over the years, Mario would randomly hear his young twin mumble the weirdest things. Half the time, Mario figured it was best not to ask what he was talking about; sometimes, it got too awkward.

"Sleep tight, bro." Mario whispered, holding back the urge to laugh as Luigi kept mumbling things that made no sense. He decided that despite the ridiculously long day they had, this little moment was well worth it.

"Mario? What is your brother talking about?" Mom asked, confused as she listened to the words leaving Luigi's mouth. Mario couldn't hold back the urge anymore, and he laughed. Surprisingly, Luigi barely stirred.

"T-Trust me, Mom... I don't even know. But it's funny to hear him a lot of the time!"

Mom laughed, playfully hitting her son in the shoulder. "You leave your brother alone! As long as he's okay, I'm happy."

Mario's laughter slowly subsided. "You're right. Hey, I'm going to my room. Can I eat later on? I'm not too hungry right now."

Mom nodded, and Mario gave her a tight hug and a good night kiss before he retreated to his bedroom to start his homework. He stole a look at the clock- it was barely nine o clock. He whistled.

"Where did all the time go?! Aww, and I have so much math homework due tomorrow... aww, man!" he exclaimed. He looked over at his bookbag and slapped himself on the forehead.

"Weege... you're so lucky... I hate math..." he grumbled as he sat at his desk, books scattered about, and began a long night of math problems... and solutions... and annoyance. The entire night, all types of grumbling left the lips of the thirteen year old as his twin slept peacefully next door.

"I _really, really, **REALLY **_hate math..."

* * *

**And we come to the end of Chapter 10! Hooray! This chapter is edited. **

**Not really anything much, and I apologize for the shorter than usual chapter. But I still hope you like it all the same! **

**I'll try to work out a more permanent posting schedule once I get college stuff set for school. Until then, I'm just posting when I can. Please don't hate me, and thank you for bearing with me! **

**Until next chapter! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

A Simple Promise

Chapter 11

Mario sighed as he woke up the next morning. It was Friday, and a half day of school no less! But for some reason, this didn't feel like a Friday.

He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his aqua blue eyes as he looked at the desk he final decided to get away from at nearly 2:30 in the morning. With all the homework he had let back up in his math class, it had taken him a few hours to actually finish everything. The funny thing was, or at least, Mario found it funny, despite not caring too much about his least favorite subject, he spent so many hours working on it, and he found it odd he was still about to wake up on time.

_'I must be turning into a student... arghhh, that's just wonderful!'_ he groaned in his mind, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. He sighed in annoyance, walking to the bathroom and scratching his head.

As he walked past his brother's room, he stopped at the door. He hadn't heard his brother's movements once since they got home last night. Mario was getting worried about Luigi.

He knew that Luigi never really had the most... close relationship with his father, and the fact that he saw him looking like a bum was probably way more than he could have handled. Not to mention how bad he snapped off in that place...

"Oh, good grief! Why am I always snapping?!" he grumbled angrily to himself. Knocking on Luigi's door, he called out to him.

"Weege! Weege, come on! Wake up!"

Luigi shuffled around in the room, and then opened his door. "...morning, bro. Wha's with all the noise?" he said groggily. Mario's eyebrow arched up.

"Weege... did you have a nightmare or something?" Luigi tilted his head.

"Did I have a... a, uh...a what now?" Luigi mumbled, confusion clear as day on his face.

Mario leaned closer to take in his brother's appearance. His eyes were starting to turn red, and he looked like sleep eluded him greatly that night. Mario also noticed something else.

"Bro... what's wrong? Why were you crying?" Mario asked softly. By this time, the two boys realized that it was getting late, and they still had to get ready for school.

"Mario! Luigi! Hurry up and come down here, or you two will be late!" Mom called from downstairs. Mario winced.

_'Crud! I wish she give us today off- we're coming home soon anyways!'_ Mario thought to himself before turning his attention back to his brother, who looked like he was swaying on his feet.

"Mario, um... can I talk to you later after school? I... I don't...want to talk right now." Luigi asked, avoiding his brother's gaze.

Mario wasn't sure if he was getting sick again or if it was something else entirely. Nonetheless, he nodded, giving his brother a reassuring hug. "Sure thing bro. But maybe you should stay home today? You feel really light... and warm..."

Luigi's head involuntarily rested on his older twin's shoulder. He did feel pretty tired... and Mario felt pretty cozy...

"...yeah... stay... home..."

Mario chuckled, helping Luigi back to his bed before calling his mom to report to her about Luigi's condition. As she went to grab some medicine from the bathroom, Mario heard a soft snoring. Looking back, he realized Luigi had literally fallen asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

_'Bro, did you sleep at all last night?'_

Luigi looked so peaceful sleeping. Mario sat next to him, stroking his hair gently as he thought back to his young childhood, back to the many nights when Luigi slept next to him at night just because he was too scared.

"Bro, I wonder what's wrong..."

Once Mom came back, she told Mario to get dressed. Mario wanted to stay home with his brother, but Mom wasn't about to hear it.

Walking back to his room, Mario sighed, slightly annoyed. He changed into his jeans and red t-shirt. Pulling on his red Converses, he kept trying to piece together what caused Luigi to feel so ill.

_'Maybe it was a bad idea to bring him over there... something in the house could have gotten him sick...'_

Mario knew he was over thinking it too much. But with Luigi's immune system, anything was possible, and he hated the fact that most of time, he couldn't prevent his younger twin from the bio warfare of the world. Or from anything else, for that matter...

"Why can't I... ugh, it doesn't even matter. I gotta get to school before Mom has a fit..." he mumbled to himself. He stuffed his completed homework in his schoolbag, and getting his lunch money from Mom, ran to catch the bus to go to school.

For the most part, Mario was pretty quiet that morning. Usually, half day Fridays would make Mario want to sing for days, but without his brother there, it didn't seem the same.

_'I wonder... how's Weege holding up...'_

Mario sighed when the final bell rang, and the principal announced that the school day had come to an end. Before heading to the store, he grabbed Luigi's homework from his teacher.

After he got himself some lunch, Mario went straight home. Mom was standing in the kitchen, making what smelled to be soup for his brother.

"Mom... how's Luigi? Is he okay?"

Mom sighed, coming over and giving him a hug before shaking her head. "No, Mario. It looks like his chest is acting up again... poor thing was coughing and breathing so bad..."

She looked down the hall, and Mario did as well. He was feeling guilty and worried all at once.

"I think he might need to go back to the hospital. Strange..." she mumbled to herself. "... he was doing so well for the longest time now. I wonder what could have happened..."

_'Oh no... is his asthma acting up again? I knew it... I caused him to get sick again, and he might have to go back to the emergency room... Weege...'_

Mom released Mario, asking him to check up on Luigi and to wake him if he fell asleep so he could have something to eat. Mario nodded, feeling oddly detached from his body for some reason.

As he walked toward Luigi's room, he threw his bag in his room, not caring what it landed on. Now Mario was beyond worried.

When he reached Luigi's room, he knocked twice on the door. But he got no reply.

"Luigi? Hey, Weege, are you up? Mom wants you to eat something, so get up, alright?" Mario called, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. Still no response.

Mario wasn't sure whether or not he was asleep; he couldn't hear any type of noise coming from the room. So he took a chance and opened the door.

Luigi looked like he was just asleep, like earlier today. But something didn't look right to Mario. Something didn't feel right, either.

Luigi knew when Mario entered his room. And Luigi hated when Mario would be inconsiderate of his private space. He also hated when Mario didn't ask for permission and just barged in, even if he was sick and couldn't get out of bed. The fact that Luigi wasn't at least asking why he entered the room concerned him already.

"Weege... Weege, are you alright...?"

Mario walked closer toward the bed, and when he could see Luigi's face, he noted that his face was a lot paler than it was earlier. Mario _still_ didn't understand how he got so sick so fast...

"Luigi?"

Mario laid his hand on his chest, attempting to shake him. But instead, his eyes grew wide, and he let out a loud, frightened scream before his shocked mind could catch up.

"MOM! MOM!"

Mario knew now why Luigi hadn't said anything.

It seemed like Luigi had stopped breathing.

Panicking, Mario racked his brain, trying to figure out what to do, as well as calm down. Just as he was attempting to do CPR, his mother rushed in the room.

"Mom, call 911! Now! Luigi.. he stopped breathing... Mom, please! Hurry!" Mario quickly explained, doing his best not to cry. Frankly, he was scared out of his wits. He had never had to deal with a situation where Luigi was just... not doing anything.

At the same time, Mario made a promise to him. He wasn't about to go back on his word.

Mom herself was getting scared as well; Mario could see the kind of fear a parent would get if their child was shot dead on the street appearing on her face. It would freak him out for a few days after this was done, he decided.

"What?! How, when... oh my god... Mario, where's the phone?!" she shirked.

Mario pointed at the phone sitting on the bedstand next to her while trying to wake up his younger twin. He was more focused on trying to get his brother to move. His mom could handle everything else.

_'But how? Luigi seemed like he was just asleep...' _Mario thought to himself, confused.

After a few attempts at CPR, Mario grew frustrated. "LUIGI! DAMMIT,WAKE UP!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

Mario wasn't sure how long it was since he came home. It couldn't have been too long, right? Or was it? He didn't even know if his mother had called 911 yet.

Mario racked his brain again, and then, left the bed and grabbed his brother's inhaler. He figured that might at least get his lungs open long enough to get him to the hospital.

"Oh my goodness, Mario... Mario, he's alright..." he heard his mother say, clearly relieved. He heard the clatter of the phone falling, the footsteps of his mother rushing to comfort her son and his brother. And for a brief moment, Mario didn't know what she meant, until he heard a rather loud and scratchy cough come from the bed area.

"... ar...Mar...io..."

Luigi groaned, coughing and curling into a fetal position. "What... is going... on... Mom?" he whispered. Mario and Mom looked at each other, relieved, still horrified, but happy that he was at least semi- conscious.

Luigi blinked twice, closed his eyes, then opened them again. Mario sighed. "Bro... stop scaring me, okay?" Mario asked, his voice very close to breaking.

Mom was already past her breaking point. She wiped her face, and looking at each of her sons, said, "M-Mario... I'm going to wait outside for the ambulance... watch him and call if anything happens, alright?"

Mario nodded. After their mom left, Luigi spoke again, although he got remarkably weaker.

"Mario... what just... what's w-wrong with Mom...?"

Mario shook his head, and this time, keeping the tears out of his voice was not happening. "Y-You scared the heck outta me... Luigi..."

Luigi was drifting in and out of consciousness, but he could still hear what his brother was saying. He could also hear the sadness that lingered there.

"Mario... I'm sorry... I scared you and Mom..." he mumbled, equally upset himself. Mario didn't respond, just rested his head on his brother's chest. He heard the terrible wheezing as he took a breath, and felt his brother's chest contract when he let out a cough. It angered him that he couldn't comfort him.

"Luigi, we have to go back there again. To the hospital." Mario said. Luigi trembled just a little.

"We... do?"

Mario nodded. "I don't want to come home and find a dead brother. I will not deal with that." he said firmly. In truth, Mario was hiding the fact that he was terrified that he nearly lost his twin, and buried his face deeper in his brother's chest, tears seeping out of tightly closed eyes.

"Weege..."

Luigi relaxed, his breathing still labored. "Mario... it's going to... to be alright... like before... right?" he asked quietly between breaths.

Mario heard his mother talking downstairs, heard people coming upstairs, probably to take Luigi to the ER. He pulled himself away from his brother, and wiped his eyes. Giving his brother a gentle kiss on his heated forehead, he simply whispered, "It's going to be alright. I'll be right there with you."

And Luigi smiled once more before losing complete consciousness. Mario then noticed that Luigi was holding something in his hand. Looking closer, he laughed quietly when he realized Luigi was holding a lucky charm Mario had given him three years ago.

"You idiot... we're not going to do that again. I hate hospitals."

* * *

**Aaaaaaaaaandddddd... done! After like... forever and a day of not updating, this chapter is complete! :) **

**I hope that you guys and gals enjoy this chapter. I am very sorry for being so bad at updating, and honestly, I would really love to have the time to just update. But sadly, I gotta deal with life. In any case, I won't let that stop me from getting this story finished. Thank you for putting up with me so far, and I hope you guys continue to enjoy the story! :)**

**As always, please leave any reviews that can help, as well as what you thought of this chapter. **

**Until the next chapter, whenever that may be, enjoy! :) **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello! **

**Yes, believe it or not... another chapter done, and in LESS time than the last one (at least... I think so... o.o)**

**Hope you all enjoy it! :) ****Thank you all for your kind reviews, favorites, and alerts for this story! It really means a lot that you guys are enjoying the story! :) **

**As you know, I own nothing more than my plotline. And my Luigi plushie! :D **

**And now... on with the story! **

* * *

A Simple Promise

Chapter 12

The ride to the ER seemed a lot longer than it should have been. Mario was allowed to ride with his twin, and his mother rode in the front. He wasn't sure what she told them, but they kept a mask on his face for some reason. He didn't even know what it was, but he figured that it must be keeping Luigi at least breathing.

_'Ugh... I really, REALLY hate making these trips...'_

The teen looked around the back of the ambulance as he felt it speeding to the hospital. It wasn't an unusual feeling; after all, he'd been here a few years back, and Luigi was in even worse shape than he was now back then.

Mario sighed. This was becoming... what's the word...?

"Irritating. Just irritating." he grumbled. He ran a young hand through slightly uncombed hair and looked back at his brother.

"Weege..."

And for the remaining twenty minutes of the ride, Mario said nothing more, but thought a lot more than a 13 year old boy should.

Once they arrived at the hospital, Mario had to react quicker that quick. They were pulling Luigi out and wheeling him into the ER, and Mom was close behind, asking questions, crying, wondering what was going on, even though Mario knew she knew exactly what was going on.

Mario felt very strange. He knew he should be in there, too, worrying over Luigi, but that was just the thing.

For some reason... he couldn't.

He felt a tightness in his chest he couldn't explain. It was just there, and it was bothering him to no end.

"What's... wrong with me? I'm that sad or something?" he asked himself as he entered the ER to see his brother.

* * *

As Mario walked down the corridor, heading toward the room where he found out Luigi was in, he thought long and hard about that tightness in his chest. It was really bothering him now.

He remembered that he felt that same tightness, not as bad, but all the same when he first found Luigi unconscious, and when he listening to the wheezing inside his brother's chest. At the time, he chalked it up to fear.

_'Maybe... it's anger. I mean, Luigi's my twin, and I got him into this mess...' _Mario thought. He glanced up to check the room numbers. Not finding the right on yet, he kept on walking.

_'Annoyance? Luigi... when he gets like this, it's kinda annoying to deal with. Everyone's always paying attention to the sickly kid... but that's a horrible way to think! He's my freakin' brother!' _Mario rationalized angrily to himself.

Finally, Room numer 5644. This was Luigi's room.

Mario extended his hand, about to push open the door, when he realized that tightness had gotten worse. He halted about a inch or so from the doorhandle.

"No... I can't see him until I figure out what's wrong with me. Why do I feel like this?" he whispered to himself so no one could hear him.

"What is it?"

Mario looked up. His mother was standing in front of him. She seemed a bit more relived then when she showed up. His hand was still floating in space somewhere.

"N-nothing. How's Luigi?" he asked, looking away from her, quickly letting his hand drop.

Mom smiled, her hand resting over her pendant. "Better. He got one heck of a nebulizing treatment, and he had to be medicated. They're keeping him here overnight to make sure all is well."

She then looked at Mario, who was awfully quiet. "Son? Are you alright?"

Mario snapped out of it, and looked at his mom. "Y-yeah, sorry. I was thinking. But, yeah I'm fine... at least he's alright. Can I see him?"

Mom looked at her son, puzzled, but nodded. "I'll get us something to drink. Want some tea?"

Mario walked past her, shaking his head no as he did so. Mom looked at her older son, worried about his silence.

"Okay. I'll be back, alright sweetie?" she said before the door softly closed behind her.

"Okay, Mom..." Mario mumbled to himself. He sat on the small white chair nearby and watched Luigi for a bit.

The poor kid was laying on the bed, fast asleep, with a mask on his face. Mario stared into space, the soft beeping and dripping sounds the only thing he could clearly hear.

"Luigi, I really need some... advice. I can't tell if I'm mad, annoyed, or just tired from actually going schoolwork." he said, sighing heavily.

"I still don't even know why that's bothering me so much! What is wrong with me?!"

Mario leaned back into the chair, staring at the lights that were flicking on and off at random occasions. He bit his lip for a bit, rolled his eyes, then bit his lip again.

"Get better soon, Bro. I cannot stand hospitals... I really can't."

* * *

Luigi was discharged after an extra week of observation and treatment. Mario couldn't be happier when that happened. He had never thought that he would hate hospitals as much as he did then.

Thankfully, all went well. Luigi needed to get some more asthma medication since it was apparent that he was going to be done his old one soon. He had also needed to take some powerful antibiotics for a infection in his chest he was fighting, including a strong nebulizing treatment that made him feel drowsy.

At least it explained why he was wheezing so bad and why he stopped breathing for that short period of time, none of which Luigi remembered at all.

Other than being full of antibiotics, he looked pretty okay when they discharged him. He felt better, too.

On Tuesday, about three days after Luigi was allowed to leave, Mom told the two boys that they were allowed to stay home from school today. She had already told the principal about Luigi's predicament. Naturally, the boys were happy, but even though the weather was beautiful, neither wanted to leave the house, either.

So Mario and Luigi stayed in Luigi's room, talking and doing brotherly things. Luigi had quite a lot of board games, many of which Mario never recalled Luigi ever playing. They settled on playing a few games of chess, as it was one of the boys favorites.

About midway through the game, Luigi realized that Mario, who was usually a pro at this game, was making the most basic of mistakes. While any other day Luigi would be grateful and completely destroy his older twin, today, something else seemed off, and frankly, it was worrying Luigi silly.

It didn't take long for Luigi to come to the conclusion that something was up with his brother, especially when Mario started to move his queen so far over to the edge of the board, Luigi had to force his brother's hand to return the queen to the correct spot.

_'What on earth, Mario?! You had me at checkmate!' _Luigi mentally screamed.

Being the worrisome, yet attentive brother Luigi was, it didn't take long for him to start asking questions, much to Mario's hidden dismay.

"Say, Mario?"

Mario looked up from the chess board; it had been his move, and he was thinking about what piece he should move. His fingers lightly grasped a pawn. Luigi eyed the queen he had to force his brother to place in the correct spot, more worried about that then the pawn.

"Yeah?"

Luigi kept his eyes on the board. "What's going on with you? You just made a very dumb move." Luigi stated matter-of-factly. Mario put the pawn back and reached for his one remaining rook, moving it forward four spaces and capturing one of Luigi's pawns.

"What are you talking about?" Mario asked, although they way he sounded, it seemed like he was thinking about something else.

Luigi leaned forward, moving his king over to the left. He noticed Mario picking up his queen for the second time, about to drop it off the edge of the board- again. "Mario, last I checked, queens are supposed to stay _on_ the board, especially if you are going to _win, _maybe?"

Mario looked up at his brother, confused. His queen was grasped unusually tight in his hand. "H-Huh?"

Luigi arched an eyebrow, cleared his throat, and then reached out and plucked the queen out of Mario's hand. He randomly noted that it was damp. Placing the queen back on the board, he shook his head and pointed at his own king, trying to show his brother what he was doing.

Mario blinked, looking at the board, and realized that he made a very strange move- his queen, which was just one space away from beating his brother, was now six spaces to the left of his king... or was, anyway.

"Mario, you knew you were going to win. You just made a really dumb move. What's going on?" Luigi asked again as he moved his king to a safer spot, allowing him to get out of checkmate.

Mario didn't respond right away. He moved his pawn two spaces forward, then simply leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling.

"Mario?" Luigi asked again, looking down quickly to move his king over another space to create some distance between it and Mario's oddly placed queen. He was closing in on one of Mario's knights, and Luigi mentally calculated that if he could capture it, he would be close to capturing Mario's queen.

_'Without that darn thing, I can finally capture his king and beat him in this game!'_

"...Mario, what's wrong? You're starting to scare me... and it's your move." Luigi said again, slightly annoyed. He just wanted to be finished with the game- he was getting hungry, and he wanted to win!

Mario still didn't respond; he just closed his eyes in thought. After another ten minutes of Luigi staring at his silent brother, Mario finally spoke.

"I hate hospitals."

Luigi blinked in surprise. He always knew that; Mario hated hospitals for as long as he could remember. But what did that have to do with anything?

"Luigi. I want to ask you something. And I want you to tell me the truth, okay?" Mario asked, suddenly opening his eyes and focusing back on the game. Moving his knight, he was successfully able to capture Luigi's second bishop. Luigi was getting more annoyed, but he wasn't worried. His plan was still going to work.

Luigi nodded, moving his rook down three spaces and taking the knight that captured his bishop. He was very pleased with himself; slowly, Mario's defenses were weakening. He was going to win, but Mario's last statement was starting to knaw at him.

Mario sighed as he picked up his king, ready to use it to attack Luigi's pawn. But he needed to get this of his chest. _'Here goes nothing.'_

"Luigi...if I told you that I felt, I guess, angry at you going to the hospital, what would you think?"

Luigi was REALLY lost now. He didn't know how to respond to that, but he was getting nervous and scared. "Um... bro, I... I don't understand what you mean..."

Mario opened his eyes and looked at his younger twin, king still dangling in his fingers. "As in, if I told you that I was feeling this tightness in my chest and I didn't know why, but it happened every time we had to take you to the hospital, what would you say?"

Luigi was getting worried, but thought about the question and answered it the best way he could. "I... I would say it was stress, but... I think I might be something that has to do with me."

Luigi looked away from his brother. In truth, he knew _exactly_ what it was. It was just hurting him to say it, and he didn't want Mario to read him or force him to say it.

"Something... to do with you, huh..." Mari repeated, placing his king back on the board and standing up. Luigi looked up at his brother in surprise, then at the board, then at his brother again.

"M-Mario...?" Luigi called out, not sure if that was such a good idea. Mario looked back and smiled at his brother.

"Thanks, bro. I'm heading to the store to get some candy. You want some?"

Luigi suddenly felt bad for not explaining everything to him. The fact was, he just couldn't. Not until he could get it sorted out. Something told him, though, Mario already knew exactly what he was going to say... or was going to get around to saying, eventually.

"Y-Yeah... green sour rings?" Luigi asked hopefully, trying to move off this topic.

Mario grinned. "I know you too well, bro. I'm getting peach ones. Be back in a few!"

Once Mario left, Luigi sighed, slumping a little in his chair. He didn't know how he was going to explain this to his brother, even after he got his thoughts together. For the time being, Luigi decided to leave well alone and come back to it later.

"Hmm..." Luigi suddenly realized, looking down at the chess board. He laughed to himself.

"Bro, I was about to have you beat. Now _that's _a first..." he said as he looked at the board. Mario's king was way off where it originally was, actually closer to Luigi's queen, placing him in checkmate. He didn't see him put it there, so he didn't declare checkmate, but he knew he was going to win.

Shrugging, Luigi cleaned up the chess pieces and put the game away before going downstairs to watch a little TV before Mario came back. He could only hope that Mario would accept the answer that he gave him until he could give him a more appropriate, though-out answer.

_'The truth can set you free, but not without consequences. I wonder if that's true with siblings, too...' _Luigi thought as he absent-mindly flipped through the channels. He could smell Mom making food and asking where his brother was... _repeatedly._

"Store, Mom! He went to the store!" Luigi finally yelled just as she said it was time for lunch.

Luigi laughed. Maybe for now, he doesn't need to worry about what Mario just asked. He'd think about it later, and Mario probably would, too.

"I hope..."

* * *

**Annnnnndddd complete! :) **

**Okay, so this chapter was a bit tricky to work on, and I had planned to end it a bit differently, but I realized that I didn't like where it was going, so I had to edit a bit of things out. I also made it a bit longer, as it was going to end rather short, but it wasn't anywhere near good, so I added on to it. **

**I'm sorry about the random chess part, but I do like chess and I could actually see Mario and Luigi playing that when they were younger. :P**

**As always, please leave a review, a suggestion, anything as long as it's not flames! :) I really do appreciate it! **

**Until next chapter, see you soon! **


	13. Chapter 13

**The next chapter is complete! Yayyyyy! :) Enjoy!**

**All characters go to Nintendo, woohoo! :D Plotline goes to me! **

* * *

A Simple Promise

Chapter 13

Mario continued his walk to the corner store, his mind floating away on other things.

He knew what the answer to his questions were when he had asked his brother. He knew that Luigi was well aware that those answers would probably hurt him... break his heart, even.

Mario knew all of it. He knew Luigi did, too. So what was the point in him even asking?

Sighing to himself, Mario entered the store and picked up sour apple rings for Luigi and peach ones for himself. After he paid the cashier, he left and began to walk home.

_'I think I need to stop thinking... clearly it's just not working out in my favor...' _

"Mom! Weege! I'm back!" he called upon entering the house.

Luigi, who had been watching some random channels and shows, showing zero interest in pretty much any of them, turned his head and smiled. "Bro, did you get them?"

Mario grinned and tossed three small bags of sour rings at Luigi, who caught them happily and thanked him. Mario went and plopped down on the couch, already bored by the monotone newsman that was on.

"Oh, for crying out loud! Isn't there anything else interesting on?!" Mario exclaimed after only two minutes. Luigi shrugged, enjoying the sour goodness of his candy.

"Dunno. You want to change the channel?"

Before he could get a reply, Mario leaned across Luigi and grabbed the remote resting on the small table. He began flipping through channels, grunting in annoyance every time a boring show popped up.

"Weeeeeeeeegeeeeeeee!" Mario groaned dramatically after searching through half the cable channels. Luigi arched his eyebrow and shook his head, trying not to laugh at his brother's 'acting' skills.

Mario grew annoyed and threw the remote on the couch. He then flopped over his brother's legs, plucking one of his sour apple rings right out his hands. Luigi laughed, and took one of Mario's peach rings, waggling it in the air for a moment to prove his point before eating it.

"WEEEEEEEEEEEEEGEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Mario called again, even more dramatic than last time. This time, Luigi couldn't help but laugh.

"Whattttttttttttttttt, bro?" Luigi imitated, laughing even after he crammed the sweet candy into his mouth. Mario rolled his eyes.

"Mom make anything for dinner yet?" Luigi blinked, looking at the window. It was still fairly bright out, so it couldn't have been any more than three, maybe four, at the latest.

"Bro, it's nowhere _near_ time for dinner yet!" Luigi answered, adding on, "But Mom did make a late lunch. I think it was spaghetti. I didn't eat yet, you wanna go have some?"

Mario nodded, setting aside his the rest of his peach rings for later. Luigi followed suit, and they headed into the kitchen, where sure enough, a giant pot of spaghetti awaited them. Mario looked eager to dig in.

As the two boys ate, Mario eating a lot less gracefully than his younger twin, Luigi suddenly became aware that Mom was nowhere downstairs. He looked at Mario, who was sporting a bright red mustache from the sauce, and asked, "Bro, did you see Mom on your way inside?"

Mario paused, head hovering over his plate, three loose noodles dangling from sauce-covered lips. He slurped, causing Luigi to make a disguised face, and then shook his head no.

"Weird... maybe she went upstairs... I must've dozed off..." Luigi mumbled to himself as he shrugged and finished eating.

After the spaghetti was eaten and the dishes washed, they boys took some juice back to the living room and set them down on the table before taking their spots on the couch. Mario positioned himself so that his back leaned into the arm of the couch, his feet relaxing on Luigi's legs. Luigi relaxed, supporting his head in his right hand as he clicked through the channels once more to see if any cartoons were on.

"Hey, Tom and Jerry! What do you think, Mario?" Luigi asked. Mario nodded.

About a half hour into the episode, Mario completely lost interest in watching two animals playfully competing against one another, even though it was his favorite cartoon. Instead, eyes somewhat focused on the screen, his mind drifted off entirely.

He was still thinking about their conversation earlier that morning. Even though Luigi did answer his question the best way he could, he couldn't help but feel as though a part of his answer was missing.

_'Well, duh it is. If I had gotten that answer, really now... what good would that have done for either one of us?'_

His mind was brought back to reality when he heard his brother laugh at the TV show, healthy and well and alive. _'He's here now, isn't he? And besides, he probably got over this convo wayyyyyy long ago. I think... I **seriously** need to stop thinking! Hurts my noggin!'_

It was then that Mario decided that the best thing to do was to put the whole thing to rest. Mario smiled, looking at the cartoon before he joined in with his brother's laughter.

_'He's a good kid, it's not his fault that he gets sick more than the average child. I still love him; he's my twin.' _Mario thought as he eyed Luigi from the corner of his eye, grabbing another peach ring.

"I'll always love you, Luigi. Don't forget it."

Luigi turned toward his brother, thinking he heard something. His hand was poised, green ring in hand and ready for eating. "Hmm? You say something, Bro?"

Mario shook his head. "Nope, it's nothing." he quickly answered, grabbing the TV remote and looking at the channel guide. Amused, he said, "Hey look, they're having a marathon of this show."

Luigi blinked- he knew he heard Mario say _something_, but decided to let the matter drop. It might be for the best, anyway. Luigi looked at the guide and laughed when he saw there was a three hour marathon coming up. The two enjoyed the rest of the afternoon watching Tom and Jerry, laughing and content.

Or, they would have, had Mario not start thinking yet again. He had no idea what brought those thoughts back to him this time, or worse, why they were so much worse. But this time, he really could not get himself to stop thinking in the negatives.

_'Luigi... I don't know what got into me that night. I really can't wrap my head around it, and to be honest... I'm scared of what I might do to you. I know I'm gonna hurt you... but I...that's just my issue. I don't know why I would want to do something like that, or how to get rid of that feeling.'_

Luigi, who was unaware of his brother's thoughts, had stopped laughing when he noticed the weight on his legs was gone. He looked over at his brother, and grew a little concerned when Mario's hands began curling into fists, his face turning into one of anger. It was making Luigi a little bit of confused and worried all at once.

_'What just happened? He seemed fine a minute ago...' _

Looking at him, Luigi nervously asked, "I-Is everything alright?"

Mario let out a breath he never noticed he was holding. Attempts to relax himself failed as all his thoughts literally raced a mile a minute inside his mind. Finally, he figured out what he wanted to tell his brother.

"Luigi... no, everything isn't alright. I don't know what the heck the problem even is!"

Alarmed by the sudden raise in his voice, Luigi leaned back a little. Mario caught sight of that and tried to lower his voice.

"Sorry about that. It's just... I really can't understand what my problem is lately. And I feel like... like you are going to hate me for something..."

Luigi didn't understand, and his expression showed it clear as day. He titled his head and said, "Mario, you know I can never do that. You know that. And besides, why would I hate you, anyways? Any problems we have, we always get through it together." Luigi explained as calmly as he could.

For some reason, that kind of thinking only made Mario more angry, and he jumped out of the couch, his frame shaking with anger as he glared at his brother, who seemed to shrink a little under the piercing glare. _'I wonder what happened in his head... he should know better by now.'_

"You think I don't know that?! You think I like having these thoughts?!" Mario yelled, walking back and forth, hands shaking. Mario knew deep inside, he was scared, but what was he scared of, was still unknown even to him.

Luigi opened his mouth to reassure his brother when Mario let loose something even Luigi didn't expect.

"_**I**_ _**don't want to hurt you, Luigi! I don't like to see you bleed!"**_

The last statement caught Luigi off guard, and he paused. "... bleed? What?" he repeated, making sure he heard right. Mario, who was panting and trying to calm himself, realized a tad bit too late what had just left his mouth, and his expression changed to one of horror.

The room was silent for a few tense moments, the cartoon that both were so happily watching not that long ago playing in the background. Mario's eyes widened as he stared at the floor, now fully aware of what he just said.

"Mario... when was I bleeding? What happened?" Lugi asked. Mario continued to stare transfixed on the floor, unable to think of an answer even though he knew what it was.

_'I don't know... Luigi wasn't bleeding that night we went to the hospital. Maybe... no, it has to be it, there's no other explanation. That has to be it.' _

Luigi tried to touch his brother's shoulder, to give him a little shake to snap him out of it. But Mario thought faster, and with one smooth motion, turned away from Luigi. "I'm going to bed."

And with that, Mario went to his room to be alone with his thoughts. Luigi stared after him, sadness replacing the confusion that was once there.

"Mario, I don't understand..." Luigi whispered. "What happened? Why won't you tell me what's wrong?"

Luigi bit his lip. He did have a theory, but he knew that was a stretch in asking. At least, in the case of his brother. He had to hear it from Mario himself.

"It could've been a nightmare, and I have a feeling that it was. Mario knows he's not good at keeping things from me. In any case, I need to know what's wrong. And this time, I'm taking 'no' for an answer."

Luigi ran to his brother's room, banging on the door until Mario opened it. Luigi entered and sat on the bed. Mario was sitting at his desk, staring into outer space, a red pen twirling in his fingers.

"Mario?" No response.

"Mario, I don't understand what's going on. You know what you meant, can you please tell me? Please?" Luigi asked, getting even more concerned when Mario barely spared him a glance.

"Talk to me, Mario. Please, I don't understand!" Luigi pleaded with his brother, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him ever so slightly. Mario blinked, but kept his gaze firmly locked on the wall and said nothing.

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong? And what did you mean by you 'not liking to see me bleed'? I wasn't bleeding that night! I was sick, but I'm alive!"

That seemed to have sparked something in Mario, for he gasped before looking at Luigi and touching his cheek ever so gently. Luigi felt hope rising, maybe now he'd finally get to the bottom of things.

_'Weege, you really have no idea, do you...' _Mario thought to himself. Luigi felt his hopes fall fast when he realized that Mario still wasn't going to answer him. And it was really pushing Luigi's buttons.

Annoyed and out of other useable options, Luigi was going to slap Mario upside his head to get some sense knocked into him when Mario finally, and fairly suddenly, answered, looking at the pen he held.

"Luigi... you did bleed once. And it was my fault it happened."

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**Anddddd complete! :) Only took me... forever and a day again... -.- **

**Now maybe the plotline can advance a few more years... I'm ready to write about these two in high school... this is gonna be fun and sad at the same time, but mostly fun for me! If you have any ideas of what the boys should be like in the high school portion of this story, please include it in any reviews or PM messages. **

**Until the next time, I shall see you when I see you! Thank you for all your patience and comments! It means a lot! :) **


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